“Kharge attempting damage control before poll results,” BJP’s Pratul Shah Deo

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], October 17 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party has said that Congess President Mallikarjun Kharge’s recent assertion that if the Congress retains its government in Rajasthan, it will also seize power at the Centre in 2024 is an attempt to do damage control before the results of the forthcoming polls in the state.

“It’s very difficult to imagine on what basis Mallikarjun Kharge is making such claim that if they win Rajasthan they will sweep India. This is his own political science thought because no other political pandit can predict that if you win a state, you can sweep the country,” BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo told ANI.

The BJP leader said, “I think it is going to be a whitewash for Congress and BJP is going to win the assembly elections in all five states. Kharge probably smells some kind of hope in Rajasthan that’s why he is making such claims. He is trying to do damage control before the actual results are published.”

Kharge had a day ago while launching an awareness campaign for the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) in the state’s Baran district had exuded confidence about retaining power in the State.

Meanwhile, the BJP spokesperson has also dismissed Congres leader Shashi Tharoor’s statement about either Kharge or former AICC president Rahul Gandhi to be nominated as Prime Ministerial candidate if the opposition INDIA alliance wins in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Deo said that Tharoor was attempting to settle political scores with Kharge.

“Shashi Tharoor is trying to settle political scores with Kharge because they were at loggerheads during the presidential election of Congress and Tharoor has to bite the dust. It’s very clear that in the dynastic politics of Congress, there is no scope for a competitor. By trying to project Kharge as a competitor to Rahul Gandhi, probably Tharoor is getting back at Kharge because the Gandhi family doesn’t tolerate competitors. They will never tolerate someone with greater experience.

Polling for the 200 seat Rajasthan Assembly will be held on November 25.

Congress secured a victory in the last elections in 2018 with 101 seats.

The Congress is yet to release its list of candidates in the state while the BJP has released its first list fielding as many as 7 MPs for the assembly polls in Rajasthan.