Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2016 - 09:36 pm:

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Congress will be eliminated from the Northeast: Himanta Biswa Sarma
If the BJP wants to expand in the Northeast, won't it be at the cost of regional parties that are your allies or potential allies?

No. We won't go on an expansion mode, ignoring our partners. We respect our allies. The BJP's geographical expansion will take place along with the allies.

How feasible is this? For example, an NDA partner is already the ruling party in Nagaland and the Congress is in the opposition. So, will the BJP try to grow in Nagaland on its own?

We will have twin objectives. Let our allies win. In three states (out of eight) — Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram — we will let our allies continue their journey, but we will also grow there, capturing the Congress' space. I don't see any conflict here. We are a political party. We will try to grow everywhere. But we will synchronise our growth with our allies'. In other states (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura), the BJP will take the lead, as we can form the government on our own. Basically, our aim will be to shift the Congress' existing vote share to the BJP, and let our allies continue to have theirs. This is how the Congress will be eliminated from the Northeast.

But the three states that you have just mentioned — Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram — are also overwhelmingly Christian-dominated states.

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Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2016 - 09:06 pm:

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Muslims have always been with the Congress, but Muslim votes in those constituencies where the Muslim League did not have a candidate went to the Left. Does this worry you?

Yes, the party has to definitely find out why it happened that way.

Does the fact that many Hindus in south and north Kerala voted for the BJP worry you?

It is only temporary. The sudden emergence of the BJP has caused this. It is not a matter to worry about.

Digvijay Singh tweeted that the Congress needed not just introspection, but surgery after it lost many states.

I won't say the party needs surgery, but if we have to overcome the current crisis, it is true that at the national level, the Congress has to improve upon its organisational capacity.

Instead of camping in the cities and leading the party, leaders have to go to the interiors of the country.

The Congress is losing touch with the common man. It is high time the party got in touch with the common man.

Among all the Congressmen in Kerala, at 33,650 votes I got the largest number. I could achieve this and win my seat when the entire Kerala was voting against the Congress only because I was always available for the people, and I was there to solve their problems.

I also carried with me all the partymen and our campaign was a joint effort.

Many observers question Rahul Gandhi's leadership abilities and the party's dependence on one family (the Nehru-Gandhis).

I don't agree with this observation. The Congress is united only because of this one family.

The presence of the Nehru/Gandhi family is the reason behind the unity in the party.

If you question them today, the side effects would be terrible.

You mean the party will disintegrate?

Yes, without the Gandhi family, the party will disintegrate completely.

Nobody else can keep the Congress united like the Gandhi family. So, their presence is extremely essential for the party.

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