BJP took people for ride in 2014: Varsha Gaikwad

Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP of taking people for a ride in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and asserted that only her party can defeat the saffron outfit which relies on fundamentalismIn an interview to PTI she also said that people reposed faith in the BJP in 2014 as they wanted change but now they know that the ruling party has not done anything concreteThe number of MPs and MLAs alone does not determine the strength of a party she said adding that the Congresss graph in the countrys financial capital was not on the declineIn 2014 a picture was created as if the issues of corruption inflation and unemployment can be resolved only by Narendra Modi But people now realise that they were taken for a ride and that it was all fake In 2019 Congress won only four of Mumbais 36 assembly constituencies while it lost all the six Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and 2019 she saidBut not much depends on how many MPs or MLAs win All our former MPs are still active in the party In 2014 many of our sitting MLAs and MPs lost due to the picture that was created by the BJP That does not mean the Congress party is finished It is always alive People now realise how they were taken for a ride she saidBJP relies on fundamentalism while Congress works on the ground highlighting peoples issues the Congress leader claimedOnly Congress can defeat BJP Organisation strength and peoples support can help us win People reposed faith in the BJP in 2014 as they wanted change But now people know that BJP hasnt done anything concrete she addedTalking about the split in Shiv Sena and NCP she said The BJP split two parties and included the same people in its government against whom it used to level allegations and fight elections But Congress hasnt split Maharashtra is a progressive state and its people understand that the current politics is selfcentred and not for people she saidThe Congress shared power with the Nationalist Congress Party NCP and undivided Shiv Sena from November 2019 till the time the Uddhav Thackerayled government collapsed in June 2022 following the rebellion by Eknath ShindeThe ideology that we Congress and Shiv Sena UBT have is different and hence we worked on a common minimum programme on peoples issues especially during the COVID19 pandemic The MVA government worked hard during the pandemic Gaikwad who was school education minister during the MVA government saidMaharashtra never had a system of betrayal in politics and targeting by opposition parties she saidOn the issue of seatsharing among the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies comprising the Sharad Pawarled NCP Shiv Sena UBT and Congress Gaikwad said the threeparty alliances priority is to ensure that maximum number of MPs win I dont think there will be any problem she saidCaste census demand and the issues of unemployment and inflation are different In politics all issues need to be highlighted Gaikwad saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever