Cong more capable of forging alliances than BJP: Jayant Chaudhary

The Congress is more capable than the BJP in building alliances and collaborating with parties, Rashtriya Lok Dal Vice President Jayant Chaudhary has said, asserting that the Rahul Gandhi-led party can play a key role in forging an opposition coalition for the 2019 polls.

Buoyed by the win in the Kairana parliamentary bypoll, he said public opinion and electoral results such as the bypoll victory will act as a "glue" for cementing a coalition for the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Tabassum Hasan, who was supported by the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress, triumphed last week over her BJP rival in Kairana to become the first Muslim face from Uttar Pradesh in the 16th Lok Sabha.

Her victory also gave RLD, its first representative in the current Lok Sabha after the party drew a blank in the 2014 general election.

In an interview to PTI, Chaudhary said the BJP wants to make the 2019 polls a battle of personalities, but the opposition wants to project issues rather than a personality to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"They (the BJP) have built a personality cult around Modi and now they expect the opposition to also thrust upon the nation a similar figure so that the two can sort of take each other on," the 39-year-old leader said.

Chaudhary, who is the son of RLD chief Ajit Singh and the grandson of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, said there was more talent in the opposition ranks and more freedom to express than in the BJP.

"So I think going into 2019, I am not sure there will be an understanding of who's on top and who's at the bottom (of the opposition alliance), but we will be working together. That is important for the country," he asserted.

Asked if Congress being a pan-India party could be the pivot of the opposition alliance to take on the BJP, he said, "Congress today is the largest opposition party and they have an organisation in most states of the country that is still strong.

"...I see a good story emerging. Congress can definitely play that role. They can cooperate and collaborate more effectively than the BJP."
Asked if the Congress was more capable of building alliances and working in unison with parties in an alliance, Chaudhary said, "That's my perception, (and) that is the perception of a lot of people in the political system."