‘One nation, one election’ is not possible under present Constitution: Chidambaram

Reacting to PM Modi’s allegations in his recent Kurukshetra rally that the Congress will abolish reservation, Chidambaram said: “That’s again totally, rhetoric. Why should we abolish reservation? We are the ones who are saying that the sealing of 50 per cent on the reservation must be removed. We are those who are asking for caste census, we are saying reservation must be according to the population.”

Claiming that there is anti-incumbency against the ruling BJP in Haryana, the Congress leader said: “ In fact, Mr Modi recognised that there is an anti-incumbency mood. That is why he changed Mr (Manohar Lal) Khattar and brought Mr (Nayab Singh) Saini in the last six months. Why would a party change its chief minister of nine and a half years in an election year? The answer is under Mr Khattar, the BJP would have lost badly. Under Mr Saini also, the BJP will lose badly. Now, the people want a change.”

Replying to a question related to the statement of former Haryana home minister Anil Vij’s announcement that he would stake a claim on the post of chief minister if the BJP wins upcoming assembly polls, the Congress leader said: “As far as Mr Anil Vij throwing in his hat… It only shows this is the consequence of the Lok Sabha verdict. The Lok Sabha verdict has certainly put a speed breaker in Mr Modi’s juggernaut. One of the fallouts is that the central BJP is losing control over the state BJP. I won’t be surprised if more people throw in their hats. Let them throw in their hats. It shows that the Haryana BJP is not united.”

Refusing any dissidence in the Haryana Congress unit, Chidambaram said, “Naturally, there will be healthy competition among the leaders. My good friend Selja (Kumari) ji has not said a word against Mr (Bhupinde Singh) Hooda, nor has Mr Hooda said a word against Ms Selja. We are a united party, we will fight this election in a united manner. We are confident that we will win the support of the people of Haryana.”

When asked about the party’s chief minister face, the Congress leader said that “normally, the Congress doesn’t announce the CM candidate before the polling is over” .

“There is a practice that once the election takes place, the preferences of the MLAs are asked, and then the high command decides who will be the chief m, minister. I think the same practice will be followed in Haryana,” he added.

Replying to a question related to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement to resign in two days, the Congress leader said: Whether Mr Kejriwal should be chief minister or not is the concern of the people of Delhi. They will react to it. In Haryana, the AAP and Congress don’t have any alliance. We are fighting against each other, like we are fighting against the BJP.” He also blamed the ten-year BJP rule for landing Haryana in a debt trap.