Guwahati: The future of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister is uncertain as one needs a large heart, open mind and inclusive approach to run a coalition government, Congress Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi said here on Friday.
"These are the qualities that former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and late Atal Behari Vajpayee possessed, but I don't think Modi has them. Therefore, his long-term prospects as PM are questionable," Gogoi told reporters after he, along with two other elected Congress MPs, were felicitated at the state party headquarters here.
Gogoi, who wrested the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat from BJP's Topon Gogoi, expressed gratitude towards the people of Uttar Pradesh for elevating 'Rahul Gandhi to a stature bigger than the Prime Minister.'
"If we compare the victory margins of Rae Bareli and Varanasi in UP, where the BJP claims its 'double engine government' is thriving, Gandhi has won by more than double Modi's victory margin," the deputy leader of the opposition in the outgoing Lok Sabha said.
'When the people of Uttar Pradesh are unhappy with the Prime Minister, it raises doubts about how long the coalition will remain satisfied with his leadership,' he added.
'Currently, my foremost doubt is the continuity of Modi as PM for five years because UP's people have shown their disapproval, as evidenced by their voting pattern in Varanasi compared to Rae Bareli,' he continued.
Regarding the impact of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (BJNY), Gogoi said, 'It undeniably had a significant impact across the country, evident from the decline in vote share in the Hindi heartland states of UP, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, among others, where the BJP was deemed powerful, but their margins have diminished.'
He also highlighted the BJNY's influence in the Northeast, where it started in Manipur, leading to Congress winning two seats, followed by one seat each in Nagaland and Meghalaya, and three seats in Assam.
'In the NE, the BJNY has fractured the backbone of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA). It's unfortunate that its convenor and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, instead of taking moral responsibility and resigning, is attributing the losses in Nagaland and Meghalaya to a particular religion,' he lamented.
'We respect all faiths in the Northeast, be it Christianity, Hinduism, or Islam. However, it's regrettable that the Chief Minister lacks the maturity to own up to NEDA's poor performance,' Gogoi remarked.
'Sarma's reckless statement blaming a particular religion necessitates an apology. The chief ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya should also condemn this remark,' he emphasised.
"Across India, particularly in Assam, people have rebuffed the rhetoric of communal division based on symbols like the 'mangalsutra' and Hindu-Muslim divides. I commend the Indian electorate for rejecting such rhetoric through their votes, whether in UP, Manipur, Assam, or Tamil Nadu. People of all faiths and religions across the country have dealt a strong blow to the BJP," Gogoi remarked.
Assessing the impact of the election result, Gogoi said it will not only affect the upcoming polls in Delhi, Haryana, and Maharashtra but will also resonate in the Assam assembly elections two years from now.
"The echo of the Congress victory in Jorhat will reverberate throughout the state," he concluded. Gogoi, who won the Jorhat seat by a margin of 1,44,393 votes, was welcomed at the party headquarters, along with Pradyut Bordoloi, who retained the Nagaon seat, and Rakibul Hussain, who defeated AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal in Dhubri by a margin of 10,12,476 votes.
They were felicitated by senior party leaders, including the state president Bhupen Bora.
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