Exuding confidence about a good showing in the upcoming assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that as of now the Congress is certainly winning Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, probably winning Telangana, and there is a ''very close'' contest in Rajasthan which the party believes it will emerge victorious in.
The senior Congress leader also referred to the row over BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri's derogatory remarks against BSP leader Danish Ali in Lok Sabha, alleging that the BJP indulges in such tactics to distract from the demand for a caste census.
He asserted that the opposition is adapting and working together and the BJP is ''in for a surprise in 2024'' general elections.
Speaking at a conclave organised by the Pratidin Media Network of Assam, Gandhi also said the idea of 'One Nation, One Election' was aimed at distracting from real issues of the people.
''It's one of the BJP's distraction strategies,'' he asserted.
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The main issues in India are the concentration of wealth, huge inequality in wealth, massive unemployment, huge unfairness towards the lower caste, OBCs, and tribal communities, and price rise, he said.
''Now, the BJP can't contest those. So 'let's have Mr. Bidhuri make a statement. Let's get together and sort of have elections together. Let's change the name of India'. This is all a distraction. We know it, we understand it. And we're not going to let them do it,'' he said.
He asserted that his party not winning any of the states in the upcoming state polls is out of the question.
Assembly polls are scheduled to take place in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram.
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Asked about the party's chances, Gandhi said, ''I would say, right now, we are probably winning Telangana, we are certainly winning Madhya Pradesh, we are certainly winning Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan, we are very close, and we think we will be able to win. That is what it is looking like, and by the way, that is also what the BJP internally is saying."
The Congress learned a very important lesson in Karnataka that the BJP wins elections by ''distracting and not allowing us to construct our narrative and so we fought the polls constructing our party's narrative''.
He claimed that the Congress is controlling the narrative in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the run-up to the polls there. ''If you speak to people in Rajasthan on what is the issue in terms of anti-incumbency, they will tell you they like the government,'' he said.
''We are adapting in a situation where the BJP controls the media. Don't think the opposition is not capable of adapting, we are adapting, we are working together, and we are 60 percent of India's population. BJP is in for a surprise in 2024 (Lok Sabha polls),'' he said.
