New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday exuded confidence that his party will form governments in Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir, while claiming that the Assembly elections' verdict on October 8 would mark the "countdown" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "exit" from the Centre.
In an interview with PTI, he also accused the BJP of injecting "Vitamin-P for polarisation" in the assembly polls campaign for Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir, and said the people would give it a "thumbs down" as they had done so in the Lok Sabha polls.
"June 4, 2024 (Lok Sabha poll results) was the first signal that the time for the non-biological PM is getting over and I think October 8 will be the second signal, and sometime in November the third signal would come when the elections are held for Maharashtra and Jharkhand," he said.
"As far as Haryana, and J&K are concerned, I think it is very clear that the Congress is going to get a very clear and decisive mandate in Haryana, and in J&K, where it is in alliance with the National Conference. This is the countdown to the exit of the non-biological PM," Ramesh said. Asked about the BJP's recent "PoK will be part of Jammu and Kashmir" pitch and Pakistan finding mention in the election campaign, the Congress general secretary said this was nothing new and was part of the BJP's "communal propaganda".
The BJP does not realise that the words that they use at the time for campaigns in domestic elections have tremendous foreign policy implications, he said. The things that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said about the people from Bangladesh, it has become a "big irritant and sore point" in bilateral relations with the neighbouring country, Ramesh alleged.
"So foreign policy is foreign policy on which there is a broad continuity and consensus in India but the BJP has made foreign policy an instrument of domestic political campaign which is not going to help us in our foreign policy. It is not helping us domestically, it certainly won't help them domestically," Ramesh said.
"I am not surprised that they are trying to inject a highly polarised agenda but that is not just in J&K, they do it state after state. They only know Vitamin P for polarisation. They believe in two Vitamin-Ps -- P for polarisation and P for power," Ramesh said. But polarisation did not work in 2024 and on June 4 as the people of India gave a "decisive thumbs down" to polarisation, the same thing will happen in Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana, the Congress leader said.
"They (the BJP) are going to do it in Maharashtra as well and Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is going to be their star campaigner in Jharkhand, has upped the polarisation ante there," he said. "This is the only oxygen that they (the BJP) have. This is the only campaign they know," Ramesh said. Asked about the impact of the October 8 assembly poll results, Ramesh said it is going to make the position of the prime minister "more shaky".
"Of course, it all depends on how the Andhra chief minister (N Chandrababu Naidu) and the Bihar CM (Nitish Kumar) respond. Then, we will have the results of the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections also, where clearly the Congress in alliance with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (in Maharashtra) and with the JMM and the Left (in Jharkhand) is certainly way ahead," he said.
"I think it is going to be a big dhakka (setback), June 4 was a 'dhakka' (setback), October 8 is going to be a 'dhakka', end of November will be a 'dhakka'. These are all exit signs for the PM," Ramesh said. Asked if he thinks the BJP-led NDA government would not last its full term, Ramesh said the prime minister cannot function with the politics of consensus, cooperation and compromise.
"He has no communication channel with opposition parties. So I think these are all going to make his position much more untenable than what it is now. You can see it in his face, in the way he speaks. I don't want to say anything more, it is going to make the government more jittery than it is," the Congress general secretary said.
Elections in Jammu and Kashmir are being held in three phases. Voting for 24 seats was held in the first phase on September 18. The next phase of polling for 26 seats was held on September 25. The polling for the Haryana Assembly polls is to be held on October 5. The counting of votes will take place along with Jammu and Kashmir on October 8.
