No question of Congress-TRS alliance, says Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose Bharat Jodo Yatra is on its Telangana leg, on Monday (October 31) ruled out any possibility of the party tying up with K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), asserting that both the outfits have nothing common to share.

“There is absolutely no possibility of any relationship between the TRS and the Congress,” Rahul said while addressing a press conference in Kothur.

He said the TRS was diametrically opposite to what the Congress stood for and “corruption, the approach, the attitude of TRS is not acceptable to us.”

Also read: Bharat Jodo Yatra: Key to Congress’ electoral revival lies elsewhere

Asked about his opinion on TRS founder K Chandrasekhar Rao’s move to rename his party as Bharatiya Rashtra Party, Rahul said the Telangana chief minister was free to re-name his party and contest elections in any corner of the world, but the fact would remain that only Congress can give a tough fight to the BJP.

“If KCR wants to form a national party, it is fine. If he wants to form a global party, contest elections in China, in the UK, that is also fine. But the reality is it’s only the Congress ideology which can defeat the ideology of the BJP,” the former Congress president said.

Rahul spoke about a “systemic attack” of several institutions including the judiciary, the bureaucracy and the media, and assured that these institutions will be “freed from the grasp of the RSS” when the Congress returns to power.

He exuded confidence that his party will win the Gujarat assembly elections, contending that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has only created a buzz in the state purely on the basis of advertisements and had no support on the ground.

Rahul said there was massive anti-incumbency against the BJP-led government in the state.

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“Congress is contesting the Gujarat elections effectively. AAP is only in the air. It has nothing on the ground. Congress is a solid party in Gujarat,” he told reporters.

“There is massive anti-incumbency. The media has created a buzz based on the advertisements given by AAP. Congress party is a solid party in Gujarat. Congress party is going to win the election there,” he added.

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The Congress leader, however, refused to comment on the tragedy in Morbi where a bridge collapsed, leaving more than 130 dead, saying he did not wish to politicise the incident.

(With inputs from agencies)