Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the outcome of Gujarat Assembly elections was a clear indication that Congress was on its way back to power across the country.
Speaking to media persons at AICC Headquarters in New Delhi, Uttam Kumar Reddy said despite being out of power for 22 years, the performance of Congress party in Gujarat elections has been tremendous. “Although the party did not get required numbers to form the government, it increased its tally from 61 in last elections to 81 now. Similarly, the vote share increased from 38.95% in 2012 to 42.3% this time. BJP has openly violated the election code of conduct on multiple occasions, tried to polarise voters and even Prime Minister Narender Modi broke several laws to win elections. Amid strong suspicion of tampering of EVMs by BJP Government, Congress party was able to give a tough fight to the BJP,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said while thanking the people of Gujarat who voted in favour of Congress party.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress party had already registered a moral victory over BJP during the campaign itself. Quoting Rahul Gandhi, he said that the Congress president has rightly defined that the Congress fought anger with dignity. He said while the BJP crossed all limits to win an election, Rahul Gandhi only raised issues concerning people of Gujarat. He also tolerated baseless and condemnable criticism by BJP leaders with a huge smile on his face.
“The increase in vote share by 3.35% and 20 seats is a big achievement, especially in the prevailing special circumstances. The response shown by the people of Gujarat clearly indicates that the Congress party would soon return to power in next elections,” he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that Rahul Gandhi’s next focus would be on Telangana. He said that the Congress party would strengthen its organisation and network across the State to ensure that it returns to power in 2019 elections. He said that the results of Gujarat Assembly elections show that Rahul Gandhi was a favourite as Prime Ministerial candidate. He said country is now looking at Rahul Gandhi as a leader who is honest, dynamic and sincere towards the people. He said that the Congress party would do a serious introspection of its performance in recent elections and formulate a strategy to face and win the 2019 polls, both at the Centre and in Telangana State. (NSS)