There is “no chance” of the Congress getting a majority on its own in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, senior party leader Kapil Sibal has said but asserted that the UPA led by the party is intact and the coalition could be in a position to form the next government.
Had the Congress been sure about getting the majority numberof 272 in the Lok Sabha, it would have definitely declared Rahul Gandhi as itsPrime Ministerial candidate as he is the “undisputed leader” in theparty, he told IANS in an interview here.
He, however, remained evasive on who could be the PrimeMinister if the UPA were to get the majority, saying it will be decided by thealliance after the results are declared.
Sibal, a prominent lawyer and former Union Minister, wasasked why the Congress is reluctant to declare Gandhi as its Prime Ministerialcandidate.
“If the Congress were to get 272 (seats), there wouldbe no hesitation,” he replied.
When insisted that the Congress could still project Gandhias its Prime Ministerial candidate and say that he would be the Prime Ministerif the party gets the majority, he shot back: “Without any doubt… If weget the majority, is there any doubt?… (But) there is no question of sayingit. We know we won’t get the majority. We know we won’t get 272 (seats), justas we know that the BJP will not get more than 160 seats.”
When pointed out to him that he was making a big statement,he responded: “Why not? Of course, we will not get (the majority). Thereis no chance.”
Sibal was asked again whether he wanted to say that Congresswill not get the majority, to which he replied: “We will not get 272 onour own. It will be foolish for me to say that. And BJP will get less than160.”
At the same time, he said the Congress-led UPA will be aheadin the elections and could form the government even as it has to fight out with’mahagathbandan’, an alliance of some Opposition parties, in states like UttarPradesh.
Asked who could be the Prime Minister if the Congress-ledUPA gets the majority, Sibal said it will be decided by the alliance.”…All that will happen after May 23 (when results are declared).”
Queried if there could be anybody else than Gandhi, he said:”I don’t know. The alliance will decide… It is something that alliancepartners will have to decide. As far as Congress party is concerned, he (Rahul)is the undisputed leader in the Congress party. Let’s be clear on that.”
On questions regarding the efficacy of the ‘mahagathbandan’,Sibal said it was “never floated by the Congress”.
“Our ‘gathbandans’ are intact. Ours is a party which isgathbandan (alliance) plus. All our gathbandans existing prior to 2014 areintact, whether it is NCP or DMK… We have added two more – JDS in Karnatakaand CPI-M in West Bengal.”
When pointed out that the Samajwadi Party (SP), which wasearlier with the Congress, has drifted away and joined hands with Bahujan SamajParty (BSP), Sibal said: “That is not our fault. Our alliance partners areintact. We have not let down any of them but we have added our alliancepartners.”
He said alliance with the Samajwadi Party could havehappened if that party had “recognised our importance as a national party”.
“But (BSP chief) Mayawati consistently opposed it. Theydistributed seats among themselves and said we have left two seats for theCongress. How can then there be an alliance?”