Bangalore: AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Digvijay Singh, on Wednesday insisted that the Congress could not be written off, notwithstanding what the exit polls suggest.
“The media had written off the Congress in 1977, but the party bounced back. It was written off again in 1989, but the party bounced back again. So, for God’s sake don’t write us off,” Singh told reporters in response to a question on exit polls predicting a crushing loss for the Congress. Singh was speaking to the media after a meeting of the KPCC’s coordination committee.
Singh said the Congress had seen many ups and downs in its long history, but never deviated from its ideology of socialism and secularism. The party would fight for politics of secularism irrespective of whether it forms the government or sits in the opposition after the results are announced, he added.
Asked if his party had accepted defeat, Singh said democracy meant change. The party had fought the elections with an aim to form the government. It will form the government if it got the chance, he said.
Singh suggested that the BJP, led by its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, splurged Rs 5,000 crore on its electoral campaign, with support from the big companies. “Modi has been claiming that good days will come. Hitler had the same slogan,” he asserted.
The senior Congress leader said the party had “greatest regard, respect and confidence” in the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, and shrugged off doubts about his competence following the prediction of the exit polls.
Asked why the party did not use Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the election campaign, he said: “(Manmohan) Singh was never a mass leader. He was an economist and a professional. Still he canvassed in many places.”
