Prayagraj: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi said on Monday her partys aim was to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and also that of the SP-BSP combine, and added the Congress had no qualms about forging an alliance with “anyone”.
When asked if the Congress would go it alone in UP in the Lok Sabha elections, Priynaka said: “We are also contesting elections, we are doing it alone. But we have no reservations (about patching up) with anyone, nor do we want to disturb anyone.” “Our aim is to defeat the BJP and so is that of the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party (SP-BSP) combine,” she said. Gandhi said she and her brother, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, were fighting for what they believed in, i.e., democratic values.
“My brother is the only one who is directly fighting them (BJP) and he will continue fighting no matter what the outcome is because we are fighting for what we believe in. And we believe in this country, in its democracy. We believe that everybody should be able to voice whatever they feel like, say whatever they want, dress how they want, and worship whom they want. That is what we believe in. We will continue to fight as long as this fight takes,” she said.
Gandhi also said her party did not believe in destruction of institutions and democracy, and silencing the people. The Congress leader is undertaking a boat ride from Prayagraj to Varanasi in the Ganga. On her three-day journey, she will meet people in various towns located on the riverbank. Gandhi said to her, Ganga was a symbol of culture and tradition of India and that it “does not” discriminate with anybody.
Responding to the BJP’s comments that she could take a boat ride in the Ganga because the BJP government had cleaned the holy river, Priyanka said: “the BJP’s task is to say things, the Congress party’s mantra is to work. The BJP will keep saying things, keep doing negative politics but we will continue to work.” “Every person has had enough of this government, be it students, jobless youth, suffering farmers or frankly even all of you (mediapersons) who cannot write or show on TV what you actually want to,” she said. Asked if she would also campaign outside UP, Gandhi said she would certainly do so if asked by the Congress President.
