NEW DELHI (PTI) — Hailing Rahul Gandhi as the “man of the series”, senior Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said on Tuesday the party’s good show in assembly polls in three states has laid the foundation for a “much bigger win” in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
The cricketer-turned-politician asserted, “All party members and workers played well as a team”, resulting in this performance of the Congress, but alleged the imminent loss of the BJP has “exposed the mask of falsehood of the party”.
“The anger of the people has come out. Tall and false promises were made to them and those promises were not kept, whether on issue of farmers, housing for the poor or bringing back blackmoney stashed abroad or even skill development,” Mr Sidhu said.
The BJP, however, has defended its performance, with Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying the polls were fought on the basis of the work done by the state governments.
Mr Sidhu joined Congress workers at AICC headquarters in Delhi in celebrating his party’s performance. “Our leader (Rahul Gandhi) has led the team well through the campaign, and results are coming accordingly. We did things right and Rahul Gandhi is the ‘man of the match’ and the ‘man of the series’,” he said.
“This is a flood of public support (samarthan ka jansauilab hai) and people have created a foundation for Rahul Gandhi to become the next PM. This is also an indication of the change people seek and the resentment they have been harbouring for the BJP,” Mr Sidhu claimed.
Asked what went right in preparations for the polls and what would be the Congress’s strategy for the Lok Sabha election, he said, “The party high command will decide that but obviously it will be a people-centric approach.”
“Generation of employment, welfare of farmers, among other issues will remain our core areas,” he said, adding, farmers, especially in Chhattisgarh have supported Gandhi.
But for the state polls, Mr Sidhu said, it was a “united effort”.
“Rahul Gandhi has exhibited great character in a time of crisis, like a captain guiding a ship in choppy waters,” he said.
The win in the 2019 polls will be “far more resounding” and this is “merely a trailer, the film is yet to be seen”, he asserted.
Asked what went wrong for the BJP, Sidhu, in his trademark tongue-in-cheek humour, said, “Congress is like sugarcane, solid and sweet, but the BJP is akin to a bamboo tree, tall but hollow”.