Hyderabad: Rahul Gandhi, the most eligible bachelor among country’s politicians, is unlikely to tie the knot. The indication came from the Gandhi scion in an interaction with the editors and senior journalists in Hyderabad on Tuesday, the second day of his visit to the city.
Although Gandhi interacted on a wide range of issues including the possible scenario after the 2019 elections, he asked the participants not to record it. While he wanted the event to be completely off the record still titbits of it made their way to the TV channels.
One of the questions was about his marriage plans. “I am married to Congress party,” he joked with a wide smile.
The other significant statement was his prediction that Narendra Modi will not remain the Prime Minister after the next elections as BJP strength will fall below 230. “There is no question of Modi becoming the Prime Minister again,” he said. Rahul said that the alliance of the opposition parties in country’s two larges states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will stop the BJP in its tracks. However, he evaded a reply to the crucial question of who will be the opposition’s prime ministerial face during or after the elections. “It will be worked out when time comes”, was his reply.
Gandhi who equally targeted the Prime Minister Narendar Modi and the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao during all his engagements in Hyderabad was confident that the Congress will come to power in the state. Congress which had played a decisive role in bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and carving out of Telangana through an act of Parliament in 2014, was badly defeated by the regional TRS which walked away with the entire credit for creating a separate state.
While the Congress was apparently staging a comeback in Telangana there were also speculations that the party might have an understanding with Telugu Desam, the ruling party of Andhra Pradesh. When asked about AP situation, he said that Congress was improving its position there.
Gandhi said distress among farmers and unemployment were the biggest problems facing the country. Recalling that Modi in his 2014 campaign had promised 20 million jobs annually, Gandhi said the government had miserably failed to fulfil the promises of helping farmers and unemployed youth. “China provides employment to 50,000 people in 24 hours while in India only 458 people get the employment during this duration.”