Rahul predicts Congress' poll results: 'Probably winning Telangana, certainly winning MP, Chhattisgarh, very close in Rajasthan'

Assembly polls are scheduled to take place in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Asked about the party's chances, Rahul said, "I would say, right now, we are probably winning Telangana, we are certainly winning Madhya Pradesh, we are certainly winning Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan, we are very close, and we think we will be able to win. That is what it is looking like, and by the way, that is also what the BJP internally is saying."

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that his party was "certainly winning" Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, "probably winning" Telangana, and was set to witness a "very close" contest in Rajasthan in the upcoming assembly elections in these key states ahead of the general elections next year.

Rahul Gandhi was speaking during a conclave organised by the Pratidin Media Network of Assam here. The Congress leader also referred to the row over BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri's derogatory remarks against BSP leader Danish Ali in Lok Sabha, alleging that the BJP indulges in such tactics to distract from the demand for a caste census. He asserted that the opposition is adapting and working together and the BJP is "in for a surprise in 2024" general elections.

Assembly polls are scheduled to take place in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Asked about the party's chances, Rahul said, "I would say, right now, we are probably winning Telangana, we are certainly winning Madhya Pradesh, we are certainly winning Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan, we are very close, and we think we will be able to win. That is what it is looking like, and by the way, that is also what the BJP internally is saying."

He said the idea of 'One Nation, One Election' was aimed at distracting from the real issues of the people. "It's one of the BJP's distraction strategies," he asserted. The main issues in India are the concentration of wealth, huge inequality in wealth, massive unemployment, huge unfairness towards the lower caste, OBCs, and tribal communities, and price rise, he said.

"Now, the BJP can't contest those. So 'let's have Mr Bidhuri make a statement. Let's get together and sort of have elections together. Let's change the name of India'. This is all distraction. We know it, we understand it. And we're not going to let them do it," he said. He asserted that his party not winning any of the states in the upcoming state polls is out of the question.

The Congress learnt a very important lesson in Karnataka that the BJP wins elections by distracting and not allowing us to construct our narrative and so we fought the polls constructing our party's narrative, he said. "What you are seeing today, this gentlemen Mr. Bidhuri and then suddenly Mr. Nishikant Dubey, all this is the BJP trying to distract from the idea of the caste census. They know that the caste census is a fundamental thing that the people of India want and they don't want to have that discussion," the former Congress chief said.

"Every time we bring a point on the table, they use this type of stuff to distract us and we have learnt now how to deal with it," he said. "What we did in Karnataka is we gave a clear vision for the state, 'this is the social security programme that we are going to set up for you' and then we control the narrative.

"If you look at the Telangana polls, we are controlling the narrative, the BJP is not even in the narrative, it is gone. The BJP has been decimated and it is over in Telangana," Rahul said. He claimed that the Congress is controlling the narrative in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the run up to the polls there.

"If you speak to people in Rajasthan on what is the issue in terms of anti-incumbency, they will tell you they like the government," he said. "We are adapting in a situation where the BJP controls the media. Don't think the opposition is not capable of adapting, we are adapting, we are working together, we are 60 per cent of India's population. BJP is in for a surprise in 2024 (Lok Sabha polls)," he said.