Congress

Rahul Gandhi

Lok Sabha elections

Mamata Banerjee

Mayawati

.@INCIndia President @RahulGandhi met and interacted with women journalists. https://t.co/Jl1a9QamV8 — All India Mahila Congress (@MahilaCongress) 1532443225000

BJP

President, who shared his vision of government post 2019, said he was open to the idea of backing a government headed by Trinamool Congress chiefor Bahujan Samaj Party supremoas Prime Minister.Responding to a question on backing Mamata as PM during an interaction with women journalists organised by Mahila Congress , he even said, “Mamataji is ideologically closer to the Congress” and added, “Everything will depend who wins how many seats.”Rahul's assertion is significant as it comes against the backdrop of a demand voiced in the Congress Working Committee recently that the Gandhi scion alone should lead Opposition's secular alliance.He said, “The basic idea of Opposition for 2019 Lok Sabha polls will be to see that Modi does not return to power.”Commenting on politics and policies of Modi, Rahul pointed out that Modi was using outdated political architecture of 1990s that we had built to run the country.“The world has shifted. India has changed India needs completely new ideas. We find Modi is using the same tools that we used in the 1990s,” said Rahul.Envisaging a strong comeback for his party in Lok Sabha polls next year, the Congress leader felt Modi's failure to create jobs will hurt the. He said he expected to pick up as many as 12 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat.He also feels the only person in the country who has the power to stop mob lynching in the country is the Prime Minister. “Prime Minister's personal utterances have a huge impact. The top man is allowing it to happen. If he says it is unacceptable, then it will not happen. The machinery will feel empowered to take action."He claimed that violence like lynchings were happening due to growing joblessness.”You have pulled people out jobs. There is so much anger. There is no strategy to create jobs. Unemployment is central to all this.”In reply to a question, Rahul made a serious charge against the BJP of opening up space in Jammu & Kashmir to “Chinese, Pakistanis and terrorists". He said the BJP's disastrous alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party had ruined whatever the UPA had achieved in that area until 2014.Making it clear that he did not regret “hugging the PM” and would do it “every time he throws a stone at me”, Rahul hinted that the PM could be in a bad place post 2019 as if Modi loses the elections, the RSS/BJP would not spare him. “His crimes would catch up. That is what Hinduism is all about,” he said.