The Congress has congratulated the BJP for winning Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and has given indications that the party will also try to prove majority in Manipur and Goa.
Party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said while the party could get comfortable majority in Punjab, in Manipur and Goa it has become the single largest party.
“We hope that BJP will now shift the narrative from 'Shamshan-Kabristan' and 'politics of acronyms' to the 'politics of development and brotherhood' i.e. intrinsic to the 'Ganga-Jamuni' culture of U.P. and will provide the much needed and promised relief by waiving farmer's loans, by giving cost plus 50% profit as MSP for crops, jobs for the youth and ushering in a new era of industrialisation,” he said.
Surjewala urged the Election Commission to look into the complaints raised by BSP supremo Mayawati that electronic voting machines have been tampered with to help the BJP. “Mayawati has raised a serious issue on the impartiality of elections. If a responsible leader like her levels such allegations, the Election Commission should take cognisance of it and should clear all such doubts. This is important for reinforcing the credibility of elections,” Surjewala said.
On Amit Shah’s statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most popular leader of independent India, he said if somebody is claiming that he is above democracy and the country, it is the beginning of deviation. “They should learn from the victory in some states and defeat in some other states,” he said.
He maintained that the election results are not a referendum to demonetisation. “Most of the economists agree that it is an ill-managed step that aids corruption. If this election is a referendum of demonetisation, why did BJP lose in Punjab? Why the Chief Minister of Goa lost elections? Why they failed to win majority in Manipur?” he asked.
He said the Congress will form government in Manipur. “We will form government in Manipur. The BJP should not try to disrespect the verdict of people as they did in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh in the past,” he said.