Karuna Shukla-senior politician and niece of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, claimed that Congress President Rahul Gandhi would be the Prime Minister in future and his decision to induct his sister Priyanka Gandhi into party as general secretary was a well thought-out move.
“Rahul is a fighter and certainly will be Prime Minister in future, he is the best person to serve billion-plus Indians and take care of country’s interests,’’ the 68-year-old Shukla who disassociated herself from 33-year-long association with the BJP in October 2013, told The Pioneer in an interview.
The former BJP Parliamentarian Shukla was the founding member of the party in 1980. She joined Congress in February 2014 and was believed to be instrumental in devising strategy and energising party cadres to end the winning streak of the BJP in Chhattisgarh.
Congress returned to power in Chhattisgarh in a surprise results in recently held Assembly polls as party bagged 68 seats in a 90-member State Assembly.
Shukla who has been in politics for about four decades hailed Priyanka Gandhi’s plunge in politics and stated, “she would significantly contribute to installing Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister’’.
“Like Chhattisgarh Government, Narendra Modi-led BJP Government would too suffer crushing defeat, the days of Modi regime are numbered,’’ she opined, adding, “Narendra Modi indulges in cheap popularity, his achievements are zero, he spent his entire tenure in only altering Congress Government’s schemes’’. She further said, “I feel more comfortable in Congress rather than the BJP and alleged that the BJP disrespects its senior leaders’’.
She lavished praise on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and termed him a fearless, far-sighted and straight forward person who has great affection for people of Chhattisgarh and love the State more than any leader’. She stated, “Baghel is a workaholic person who believes in thought that nothing is impossible’’.
She hit out at BJP national vice-president, Raman Singh, who led the party to a crushing defeat in 2018 Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh after serving the mineral-rich State for a record 15 consecutive years. Shukla was considered the key person in helping Raman Singh to become Chief Minister in late 2003 after Congress Government was voted out.