Work as team & give me 150 seats in Assembly polls, Rahul tells state Cong

NT Correspondent

Sending a clear message that the Congress high command will no longer tolerate groupism in the Karnataka unit, former AICC President Rahul Gandhi on Friday set a target of 150 seats for the 2023 Assembly election and said this can be achieved provided all state leaders work unitedly.

“The biggest responsibility for you is to work together and get me 150 seats and not a single seat less”, Rahul declared while addressing the KPCC Executive Committee meeting held here.

“ We should aim to win this election not with a close edge but with a big margin and not less than 150 seats. It is an easy task for the Congress if we get together, work together and fight the election together. I do feel it is very important for us to promote people based on the service they have done for the party. I don’t think we should not promote people because we dislike them. Today in Karnataka, it is very easy to find out who is actually doing work and who is not. We have all enrollers available on zoom meetings and can find out who delivers. I think we should not decide the party ticket on the basis of history and what the person has done 20 years ago. We have to consider what the person is doing for the Congress today”.

‘’We must have three principles. We should face the election as a team, make decisions on merit and reward those who worked like loyal soldiers of the party. When we come to power in the state, we need to reward our workers”.

The country has suffered a lot under the BJP led NDA government in the last seven years. Firstly GST and then demonetisation ruined the economy. Now, it is not possible for PM Modi to create new employment since almost all SMEs and Small Scale Industries have been destroyed since 2014. The PM has no moral right to talk about corruption since his own party’s government in Karnataka has been accused of taking 40 per cent commission from contractors. The aim of the BJP is to loot poor people’s money and transfer it to the accounts of two or three capitalists. “The people must be told that the BJP is trying to divide the nation in the name of caste or religion for the polarisation of votes. While they break society, we fix it. We need to show this starting from Karnataka”.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah stressed on the early selection of candidates which would enable them to work in constituencies well in advance.

He wanted workers and leaders to tour every village in the 224 Assembly segments to organise the party and win back the confidence of people.