<p class="rtejustify">In an interaction with senior journalists in Hyderabad, Congress president Rahul Gandhi cleared the air about his marriage, saying that he is "married to the Congress party".</p>.<p class="rtejustify">Rahul was responding to a question on when he would get married on the second day of his two-day visit to Hyderabad.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">The main theme of the over 90-minute interaction was about how the Congress is going to garner support to pull down the RSS and BJP-led NDA government in the 2019 elections.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">“We are talking to several like-minded parties, including those who were associated with us in the past and some new allies, to form a grand alliance to defeat the BJP in the next elections,” he said.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">Asked whether the Congress will follow the Karnataka model where it allowed an alliance partner to become a chief minister, Rahul said that the first priority is to win.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">“We are coming together to defeat the BJP. Once the objective is achieved, and then comes the issue of who the next prime minister would be. I am not thinking about it now,” said Rahul, who was so confident about the victory of the Congress-led coalition that he entered into a challenge with a senior journalist in exchange for an exclusive interview.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">“There is no way that the BJP will get 230 seats on its own. With our alliance with the SP and the BSP winning UP and Bihar, and the NDA partners like Shiv Sena against Modi’s second term, he will never become PM again, this is next to impossible," Rahul predicted.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">However, Rahul said that he had no issues with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a personal level. “There is ideological difference and differences on policies. The Congress has been fighting the RSS ideology for decades,” he said.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">To a question on how he felt hugging Modi on the floor of the house, Rahul said that from his side there was warmth, but the prime minister was cold.<br />“I think he was rather upset by my gesture. In fact, Modi doesn’t like his political rivals,” he said.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">On whether he was adopting the soft Hindutva stand, the Congress president said he did not believe in any kind of Hindutva. “I have been visiting religious places since 2004. If I get an invite I meet them,” Rahul said.</p>
<p class="rtejustify">In an interaction with senior journalists in Hyderabad, Congress president Rahul Gandhi cleared the air about his marriage, saying that he is "married to the Congress party".</p>.<p class="rtejustify">Rahul was responding to a question on when he would get married on the second day of his two-day visit to Hyderabad.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">The main theme of the over 90-minute interaction was about how the Congress is going to garner support to pull down the RSS and BJP-led NDA government in the 2019 elections.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">“We are talking to several like-minded parties, including those who were associated with us in the past and some new allies, to form a grand alliance to defeat the BJP in the next elections,” he said.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">Asked whether the Congress will follow the Karnataka model where it allowed an alliance partner to become a chief minister, Rahul said that the first priority is to win.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">“We are coming together to defeat the BJP. Once the objective is achieved, and then comes the issue of who the next prime minister would be. I am not thinking about it now,” said Rahul, who was so confident about the victory of the Congress-led coalition that he entered into a challenge with a senior journalist in exchange for an exclusive interview.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">“There is no way that the BJP will get 230 seats on its own. With our alliance with the SP and the BSP winning UP and Bihar, and the NDA partners like Shiv Sena against Modi’s second term, he will never become PM again, this is next to impossible," Rahul predicted.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">However, Rahul said that he had no issues with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a personal level. “There is ideological difference and differences on policies. The Congress has been fighting the RSS ideology for decades,” he said.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">To a question on how he felt hugging Modi on the floor of the house, Rahul said that from his side there was warmth, but the prime minister was cold.<br />“I think he was rather upset by my gesture. In fact, Modi doesn’t like his political rivals,” he said.</p>.<p class="rtejustify">On whether he was adopting the soft Hindutva stand, the Congress president said he did not believe in any kind of Hindutva. “I have been visiting religious places since 2004. If I get an invite I meet them,” Rahul said.</p>