IANS Interview: INDIA bloc partners will run in different directions after June 4, says Gourav Vallabh

New Delhi, June 3 (IANS) Professor Gourav Vallabh, the well-known TV face of Congress having recently switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spoke to IANS on a slew of issues, ahead of the counting day.

From duplicity of Congress to the opportunistic INDIA bloc, he tore into the grand old party-led Opposition and said that the 2024 results will serve as a trigger for full-scale infighting within. He also said that the alliance partners will not just have a go at each other but will also be seen running in different directions after the election results.

Below is the full interview:

IANS: Congress is proclaiming victory in at least 295 constituencies while Digvijaya Singh is pointing fingers at EMS. Doesn’t this show Congress duplicity?

Gourav Vallabh: Digvijaya Singh seems to have pre-empted the Congress leadership. He is speaking the same thing which Rahul and his coterie are set to say after the declaration of results on June 4. He has started preparing the ground for holding EVMs responsible for party’s defeat.

June 4 will mark the rout of Congress nation-wide by about 4 PM. After the debacle, the party will start looking for an escape route by pinning the blame on EVMs for its ignominious show in the 2024 elections. Congress leaders including Digvijaya Singh have already started setting the narrative by making such claims. Rahul will also join this blamegame after election results.

A senior Congress leader has been recently pulled up by the Election Commission for making wild and unsubstantiated allegations against it. He claimed that top BJP leaders tried to intimidate EC officials on duty to influence the poll outcome.

However, all this is not likely to make any difference to party’s poll prospects. They have been rejected by the country as well as countrymen.

IANS: Rahul Gandhi dubbed the Exit Polls as ‘Modi media poll’ and ‘fantasy poll’. Given your past association with Congress, what do you think is the reason behind Rahul’s obsession with the media?

Gourav Vallabh: Rahul claims to have the support of masses however he barely makes a connect with the people. This is apparently the reason behind media not giving him bigger coverage than his counterparts. By speaking harshly to the press, he actually vents his anger and frustration.

His occasional outbursts at media persons and also incidents of singling them out by enquiring about their castes is very startling.

It’s an irony that many generations of Congress worked hard to free the society of caste bias and its scourge but today Rahul Gandhi is working against his own ancestors and the tall Congress leaders of Independent India, who tirelessly worked for bringing parity in the society.

IANS: Do you see any revolt or uprising in Congress, after the June 4 results?

Gourav Vallabh: Uprising happens in a party when the partymen feel intimidated or suppressed by a strong leadership. Congress has become leaderless and rudderless today. It has no ground connect left, it has lost direction and now going haywire.

IANS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started review meeting of his 100 day action program for the third term while Congress is busy with own issues? How do you see this?

Gourav Vallabh: This is called ‘destructive approach’. I also wrote about this in my resignation letter to the party. Constructive criticism should be the principle of any Opposition party, however Congress of today is relying on two principles – A for Abuse and R for Run.

It wants to abuse somebody and then run from questions. This escapist approach doesn’t strike chord with the public. The projections of Exit Polls are a clear indication of party getting a thumbs down from public.

IANS: How do you see the attacking approach of Congress social media in-charge Supriya Shrinate. Has she sharpened the party’s pitch or has it done more harm than good?

Gourav Vallabh: I can’t say much on the issue as I haven’t worked much with her. But, her father was a Parliamentarian and her stature in the party only reflects its penchant for nurturing dynastic politics.

IANS: How was Rahul Gandhi projected as ‘Jannayak’ and what was the strategy behind it?

Gourav Vallabh: Rahul Gandhi is neither represents ‘Jan’ nor he works like a ‘nayak’, so the strategy of projecting him as ‘Jannayak’ is bound to fail.

I was surprised to see a video of him. While the media was posing questions to him and he was singing a song. This shows his and party’s ‘shoot and scoot’ tactic and makes it a recipe for disaster.

My assessment is that Congress won’t get seats, equal to the pack of cards.

IANS: Has Congress become a party of ‘sycophants’?

Gourav Vallabh: I have already said that there are only two sets of people left in the Congress. One group is that of dynasts and political heirs (whose father and relatives have been CMs or top party office bearers) and the other lot is that of sychophants and yesmen, who can got at any length to support and defend whatever Rahul says.

The party committed series of blunders in recent past like rejecting an invite for Ram Mandir Pran Pratistha, standing with those who abused and criticised Sanatan Dharma while Congress leaders went on to hurl abusive jibes at PM Modi.

Rahul, in his poll rallies, casted aspersions at wealth creators like Ambani and Adani without any proof.

I raised these issues with the party leadership but it turned a deaf ear to my pleas.

IANS: Congress has asked its polling agents to stay put at the counting centers till evening to avoid any rigging of EVMs. It has also asked them to raise objections and record video, if anything objectionable. Your take on this?

Gourav Vallabh: There are clearly laid down rules and guidelines for counting. There won’t be any irregularities, as claimed by INDIA bloc.

Election Commission is a constitutional body, the country has a firm faith in it. It is the Congress which will see its trust in the poll body evaporate on June 4 by 4 PM.

IANS: Will the AAP-Congress alliance stay in Delhi, after the election results? What is you assessment?

Gourav Vallabh: You will see the obvious happening on June 4. After 5 PM, the two parties will be seen blaming and cursing each other after the impending decimation of opportunistic alliance. Both will be seen shifting blame at each other for poll defeat, both in TV studios and among the general public.

Same equation will be seen in Bihar, where the Congress and Lalu Yadav’s RJD will fire salvos at each other. Congressmen will say Lalu regime’s “jungleraaj” went against them while the latter will claim that the grand old party ruined their chances.

Mamata has already said that Congress will struggle to reach 40 seats count.

All the ‘manufactured unity’ of the “rainbow alliance” will dissipate on June 4, after the election results. The multitude of parties that came together harbouring dreams of PM’s chair will be seen fighting and trading bitter barbs with each other.

More than 28 parties that came together under one INDIA umbrella will run away in various directions. One leader will be seen heading to Bangkok while others would be seen packing their bags for some other locations.

–IANS

mr/dan