Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, on Monday, claimed “on the basis of internal assessment” that the party will win 150 seats in Madhya Pradesh in the assembly polls in November.
“We had a detailed discussion just now. We won 136 seats in Karnataka. It is our internal assessment that we will get 150 seats in Madhya Pradesh. We will be repeating what we did in Karnataka,” Gandhi told media persons in New Delhi at the end of a high-level poll strategy meeting of the Congress.
On a question whether Kamal Nath will be the chief ministerial face of the party in MP, Gandhi simply reiterated, “We will win 150 seats.”
Reacting to the claim, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in Bhopal that BJP will win more than 200 seats in Madhya Pradesh. “It is a good thought to keep yourself amused baba (as Rahul Gandhi is mockingly referred to). If they want to live in an imaginary world, they are welcome to do so,” Chouhan said.
Senior leaders of MP Congress, including MP Congress chief Kamal Nath, former chief minister and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh participated in the meeting, also attended by Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal.
It was a key strategy meeting that was in the pipeline for quite some time now but kept getting deferred. After the meeting, Nath told media persons, “We had a very important meeting in the presence of senior leaders. There is just over four months left until the assembly polls and discussions were held as to what strategy is to be adopted and how the future of Madhya Pradesh could be made safe. It is not just about Congress, but about the future of the entire Madhya Pradesh; what kind of Madhya Pradesh do we want. Issues were discussed as to what points the election will be fought. It was decided that everyone will go to the election battlefield in a united manner.”
The former chief minister said he concurred with Rahul Gandhi’s assertion on 150 seats as he (Gandhi) has inputs. The party has started working for the polls and has already announced schemes for women, farmers, and domestic gas cylinders. Some things are being done now, more will be done in the time to come, Nath said.
Other leaders who attended the meeting included leader of opposition Govind Singh, former presidents of MP Congress Arun Yadav, Kantilal Bhuria and Suresh Pachouri, former leader of opposition Ajay Singh, Rajya Sabha members Vivek Tanka, Rajmani Patel, Lok Sabha member Nakul Nath, former speaker of MP assembly N.P. Prajapati and AICC secretaries in-charge of MP C.P. Mittal, Kuldeep Indora, Sanjay Dutt, Sanjay Kapoor and Shiv Bhattia.
Sources said the Congress high command has sought information on region-wise local issues in Madhya Pradesh as well as details of corruption and irregularities in which BJP ministers and MLAs have been involved. The Congress had fought the Karnataka polls on local issues and is probably looking to adopt the same strategy in MP. The state leaders shared the draft of Congress ‘vachanpatra’ (manifesto) with the national leaders for suggestions and changes, sources added.
Meanwhile, BJP state president Vishnu Dutt Sharma said Rahul Gandhi was dreaming as under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP is poised to create history by fulfilling the resolution of ‘abki baar 200 paar’ (this time, more than 200 seats).