BJP using money, says Rahul
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the BJP of using money power in Goa and Manipur to form governments and conceded that there was a need to make structural changes in his party after one of its worst performances in Uttar Pradesh.
“It is not about how soon they went, but with how much money the BJP went to steal the mandate of Goa & Manipur,” he told reporters in the Parliament House Complex.
“Out of 5 states, BJP won 2, we won 3. In 2 of the states we won, democracy is being undermined by them, using money,” he said. “Our fight is against BJP’s ideology, what they did in Manipur and Goa is exactly the ideology we are fighting against.”
Gandhi also acknowledged that it was time to revamp the Congress. “Our regional leaders have been running the elections in states. We won in Punjab, Goa and Manipur. As far as the Congress party is concerned, we need to make structural organisational changes in the party. That is a fact.” He did not spell out what those changes would be like.
“BJP won elections in UP, I’d like to congratulate them. Why they won has multiple reasons, one being polarisation,” the Congress leader said.
Ahead of his statement on structural changes, Congress general secretary in-charge of Odisha BK Hariprasad resigned from the post, owning responsibility for the party’s drubbing in panchayat elections in the Biju Janata Dal-ruled state, where the BJP has emerged as the principal opposition party.
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