Commenting on the Assembly elections in five States the results of which have been declared on Tuesday, the State Congress chief Pritam Singh said that the triumphal march of the party in three States-Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh- where BJP has been ousted from power would continue into the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

Talking to The Pioneer, a beaming Singh said that the election result has helped the  Congress president Rahul Gandhi emerge as the principal force of the opposition politics. “Rahul Gandhi would now become the fulcrum around which the anti-BJP parties would revolve in the days to come,” he said.

He reminded that the victory in three States has come on the very day on which Gandhi assumed leadership of the party  as the president one year ago.

Terming the election result as the rejection of the policies of the BJP Government both at the Centre and in the States, Singh said that the victory is a morale booster for the Congress ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha election. “Instead of talking about development, the BJP leaders harped on the Gotra of Rahul Gandhi while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said that Lord Hanuman was actually a Dalit. The BJP said nothing about their achievements as they didn’t have any. This is why they questioned Rahul Gandhi’s visits to temples. The people have taught them bitter lessons,’’ he said.

Launching a diatribe on the Union Government and BJP Governments in the States, Pritam Singh said they have just misguided the people by dishing out flamboyant promises which are beyond them to execute. “Narendra Modi in 2014 promised to generate two crore new employments, bring back black money and control prices but he has failed miserably on all these fronts. Discernible as they are, the people have seen through them and the election results are confirmation of their rejection by the people,” he said.

Taking pots shots at Modi, the Congress leader said that BJP had tried to take electoral advantage of the surgical strikes launched by the Army. “Such strikes are performed regularly by the armed forces but they are not made public. But BJP has ruptured this tradition and run amok to appropriate credit for the army’s achievements,” he said.

The State Congress chief further said that the people of the country have realised that there is a gulf between the words and action of BJP. “More severe debacles are awaiting the saffron party in the days to come,” he said.  

Echoing the same, the State Congress Vice-president Surya Kant Dhasmana said that the victory of the Congress amounted to victory of policies and leadership. “The countdown for BJP before the Lok Sabha elections has begun and the party harping on ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ is on its way out,” he added. 

Another senior State Congress leader Jot Singh Bisht who was entrusted with important assignments in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan during the elections said that the people are now fed up with the verbosity of the BJP leaders. “Besides, it makes it clear that the people have rejected personal attack on  the Congress president Rahul Gandhi with the scorn it deserved,” he said.

The State Congress spokesperson Garima Dassauni said that the victory of Congress has infused verve in the Congress rank and file. “The people are preparing to show the saffronites the exit door,” she added.