Former Rajasthan Deputy CM and Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who was visiting Oxford University in the UK as a guest speaker on Friday, targeted the BJP government over its '400 paar [400+ seats]' slogan. During an interaction, he targeted the BJP and the Modi government. He said that people voted against the BJP government because they were upset with its policies and had become arrogant.
"On the other hand, Congress included in its manifesto issues affecting socio-economic development on a large scale... Rahul Gandhi connected with the people through the Bharat Jodo Yatras... Congress and its allies will play the role of a strong Opposition inside and outside the Parliament," Sachin Pilot said.
Sachin Pilot was addressing teachers and students at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. During this, he discussed the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. "Indian elections are a phenomenal exercise... It is the largest planned human exercise on earth. It is a tedious affair and is not the easiest thing to do at the peak of summer," he said.
Sachin Pilot said that the INDIA bloc fought the elections on the issues pertaining to the country. "There is anger among the youth regarding the Agniveer scheme. We fought the elections on the growing gap between the poor and the rich and economic issues," he said.
Sachin Pilot said that BJP's arrogance was visible in their slogan of '...400 paar'. "The BJP government tried to take one-sided decisions in the last 10 years. Demonetisation was implemented in the country without any preparationand people had to bear the troubles. Their ministers and other leaders faced various charges, but neither resignation was sought from anyone nor did anybody take any responsibility. No action was taken against any leader," Pilot said.
The Congress leader said that BJP even tried to get votes in the name of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. "But the public is very intelligent. The BJP lost the election in Ayodhya itself," he said.
Pilot said that in Congress everyone is given a full opportunity to express their views. "There is openness in the Congress, unlike in the BJP," he said.
About the ruling coalition, he said the BJP needs to handle Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar. "If two dozen seats were to shift from the NDA to INDIA, we would have a different government," Pilot said.