Achi news desk-
Just as the morning shows the day, the Congress seems uplifted after the first phase of polls, confident of a comfortable government formation.
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“The Prime Minister is so shocked that he has to resort to language that is unbecoming of a Prime Minister, but that’s Mr. Modi for you!” says Supriya Shrinath, Chairperson of Social Media Department, AICC in an interview with Devraj Mahanta of GPlus. She adds that the BJP of `Everything is fineThe claim, on the other hand, is actually a throwback to the film 3 idiots.
GPlus: Congress’ star campaigner Rahul Gandhi is yet to visit Assam. Is it because of cash crunch or strategy?
SS: First of all I must point out that Rahul Gandhi is not the only star campaigner. We are blessed to have star campaigners like Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress president, and a host of young leaders who have huge appeal whether it’s Sachin Pilot and people like that. We are very excited about this election, Mr. Gandhi has crisscrossed this country the length and breadth. He was in Assam a few weeks ago for Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, that’s another thing he scared the living daylights out of Himanta Biswa Sarma and he didn’t allow him to visit Guwahati. But, the reality is that Mr. Gandhi has toured Assam extensively and Ms. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has a huge pull and that is why she is coming and Mr. Gandhi may come, you never know. But, we try to cover as many constituencies as possible. In the places he has been, our effort is not to repeat them because it is strategic to send him to places he has not traveled to. Considering his popularity, considering the huge currency he carries, considering the message of love- Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan- he carries. I think it’s strategic not to repeat him in the places he’s been.
GPlus: What is the status of Bloc India? Is she in a position to do what she was meant to do – fight the BJP together?
SS: More than that actually, if you see the first phase of the polls in 102 seats in 21 states, we are going to form a government comfortably. BJP is running on momentum. The Prime Minister is so shocked that he has to resort to language unfit for a Prime Minister, but that’s Mr. Modi for you! He never held the grace or dignity of his office very high. I really hope that in every state, sometimes as a junior partner and sometimes as a senior partner, together we fight BJP, together we are going to stop BJP and its allies whether it is in Bihar, West Bengal or Tamil Nadu. The elections held from Rashtra to Rajasthan to UP, we have done very well so I am very excited about a good chance for the Indian alliance. And it’s simply because we fight for issues that matter to people. We refuse to be distracted, we refuse to be distracted, we mean to hell to raise the issues of unemployment, rising prices, income and equality, the high levels of poverty, the issues of farmers, the issues of wage workers and women. And this is what the elections are about.
GPlus: The Prime Minister declared that BJP has already swept the first phase of the polls. What do you think?
SS: The Prime Minister’s statement that BJP swept in the first phase itself is a huge stamp on the things I have mentioned. A scruffy man says he’s won when he’s actually losing. If you remember the movie 3 Idiots, when everything goes wrong you keep saying that everything is fine, so the Prime Minister uses such tricks. This is the biggest possible exit poll that BJP is getting out of power. But, let alone the prime minister, after years of running this country with an incredible majority in both terms, he doesn’t talk about a single issue that is important, he doesn’t have a single job that he can define as his achievement and discuss. It. He doesn’t have a single problem for the future. The prime minister actually takes up issues that even the heads of second grade at the local level will not talk about; The language he uses, the body language he uses, the kind of bigoted and rude communal statements he makes. Of course, monitored by the Election Commission of India!
GPlus: Do lower polls compared to 2019 mean anything in terms of the result?
SS: Actually, it is! I wish more and more India would come out and vote, but every time there were lower polls, it spelled disaster for the BJP. In 2004, lower polls won; 2009- lower poll we won; 2014 and 2019, higher polls they won. This is why alarm bells are ringing within the BJP.
GPlus: Do you have any regrets that Himanta Biswa Sarma is no longer in the Congress?
SS: I could not be more grateful that he is no longer in Congress. Sometimes I ask my boss, why didn’t you fire him earlier? Such a communal man, such a disgusting man, such a deeply lacking man, what has he been doing in Congress all this time. I don’t know if it’s a color or shade or characteristic he acquired after going to BJP, but Congress is no place for people who share the kind of ideology, who make crude jokes, who make the kind of statements that HBS makes. Again, he learns from the best and his role model is the Prime Minister himself. The prime minister should be censored and banned from campaigning for the deep community statements he made, but he continues relentlessly under the surveillance of the election commission.
GPlus: How do you match BJP’s social media campaign, how they pumped in money?
SS: BJP has more money than even God can print. Whether it is the electoral connection, which was a gift for transactions. There were cuts taken, there was a whole blackmail racket that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah operated. They have more money than God can print and they will throw it at their campaign. 6500 crore rupees spent on government advertisements just to boost the image of Narendra Modi is not a peaceful task and it is happening only because they have that kind of money. Congress doesn’t have that kind of money, and not only do we not have that kind of money, our resources, our finances have been choked. Our accounts were frozen, 135 crores were not transferred, we were taken from the contacts where we should have been rejected, a joint association should be allowed to deposit 20 percent and then fight the case, we were made exceptions and this is not allowed. So we don’t have that kind of money, what we have is the power to raise real issues. Why is it that with some of the money the BJP is spending, we are talking about the city? Why should the Prime Minister constantly attack only the Congress party? Why do we have higher engagement on our social media platforms than the BJP? Why are people talking about our manifesto and not theirs? So there is truth in the fact that we fought these elections bravely, we fought these elections on important issues, and we projected before people an alternative that is suitable for India, an alternative that will keep India united and an alternative. That you will build the India that our forefathers dedicated their lives for.
GPlus: Are you satisfied with the outcome of the campaign in Guwahati?
SS: I am very glad that I actually went to one of these meetings of our Guwahati candidate. I think Guwahati is such a beautiful city, it has nothing to do with being the second most polluted city in the world. Why do people in Guwahati have to deal with drinking water problems the way they do? Why does Guwahati have to deal with traffic jams the way they do? I think these are very basic issues and these should be raised by the local authorities, they should also be raised by the representatives they choose to be represented by the parliament. The BJP has changed its candidate, but I don’t think they will win, I do believe the Congress candidate has fought a very good fight in Guwahati. And you can shut down Guwahati for Bharat Judo Nai Yatra, but you can’t shut down Guwahati from voting right, and doing wrong that you did right, in the end.
