<p>Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday steered clear of opening up his mind on party's chief ministerial face in the next year's Assembly election, saying the party has "brilliant" leaders who are complementing each other and know that they have to work together if they want to win the polls.</p>.<p>Rahul made light of the differences between Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, who are contenders for the post, as he said the party is perfectly happy with "different viewpoints".</p>.<p>"As far as our party is concerned, we are not a fascist party. We are a party that believes in conversations, we are a party that believes in discussions and we are perfectly happy to have different viewpoints in the party," he told a press conference here on the sidelines of Bharat Jodo Yatra.</p>.<p>Flanked by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/crores-spent-to-portray-me-in-a-wrong-way-rahul-gandhi-1151793.html" target="_blank">Rahul Gandhi</a> added, "however, everybody in the party understands that in order to win the election, they have to work together, they have to work as a team and that is exactly what is happening and that is exactly what is going to happen."</p>.<p>Asked who would be the Chief Minister if Congress wins the elections next year, he said, the Congress has a formidable team in Karnataka with leaders who are "complementary" to each other and "brilliant".</p>.<p>"Once we win the election, the decision on who will become the chief minister is going to be taken through a process that is carried out in the Congress," he said.</p>.<p>Rahul, who had preferred Siddaramaiah in 2013 when Congress won the election, had set the tongues wagging on Thursday after he ran a short distance with the former chief minister. Social media was abuzz with claims that it indicated Rahul's preference.</p>.<p>On a question whether the Congress would ally with the JD(S) in case it fall short of numbers, he said these were questions best answered by the state party chief of CLP leader. </p>.<p>However, he said, he was pretty certain that the Congress was going to win the election "hands down".</p>.<p>"I have spoken to many people in the last few days, I have spoken to farmers, small businessmen, labourers. What I am hearing from them is that they are tired of the level of corruption -- 40 per cent of commission that this government is charging on everything. They are disturbed by the price rise and they are struggling with the level of unemployment in Karnataka. It is on these three points I am basing my observation that the Congress is going to win the election hands down," he added.</p>.<p>Queried about BJP's allegation that Congress leaders are out on bail in cases while pointing fingers at the Bommai government calling it 40 per cent government, he said, "as we know, the BJP and RSS use India's institutions to attack political class. This is a tactic they have been using and this is how they topple governments, pressure politicians, and every single person understands and knows this in detail." </p>
<p>Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday steered clear of opening up his mind on party's chief ministerial face in the next year's Assembly election, saying the party has "brilliant" leaders who are complementing each other and know that they have to work together if they want to win the polls.</p>.<p>Rahul made light of the differences between Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, who are contenders for the post, as he said the party is perfectly happy with "different viewpoints".</p>.<p>"As far as our party is concerned, we are not a fascist party. We are a party that believes in conversations, we are a party that believes in discussions and we are perfectly happy to have different viewpoints in the party," he told a press conference here on the sidelines of Bharat Jodo Yatra.</p>.<p>Flanked by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/crores-spent-to-portray-me-in-a-wrong-way-rahul-gandhi-1151793.html" target="_blank">Rahul Gandhi</a> added, "however, everybody in the party understands that in order to win the election, they have to work together, they have to work as a team and that is exactly what is happening and that is exactly what is going to happen."</p>.<p>Asked who would be the Chief Minister if Congress wins the elections next year, he said, the Congress has a formidable team in Karnataka with leaders who are "complementary" to each other and "brilliant".</p>.<p>"Once we win the election, the decision on who will become the chief minister is going to be taken through a process that is carried out in the Congress," he said.</p>.<p>Rahul, who had preferred Siddaramaiah in 2013 when Congress won the election, had set the tongues wagging on Thursday after he ran a short distance with the former chief minister. Social media was abuzz with claims that it indicated Rahul's preference.</p>.<p>On a question whether the Congress would ally with the JD(S) in case it fall short of numbers, he said these were questions best answered by the state party chief of CLP leader. </p>.<p>However, he said, he was pretty certain that the Congress was going to win the election "hands down".</p>.<p>"I have spoken to many people in the last few days, I have spoken to farmers, small businessmen, labourers. What I am hearing from them is that they are tired of the level of corruption -- 40 per cent of commission that this government is charging on everything. They are disturbed by the price rise and they are struggling with the level of unemployment in Karnataka. It is on these three points I am basing my observation that the Congress is going to win the election hands down," he added.</p>.<p>Queried about BJP's allegation that Congress leaders are out on bail in cases while pointing fingers at the Bommai government calling it 40 per cent government, he said, "as we know, the BJP and RSS use India's institutions to attack political class. This is a tactic they have been using and this is how they topple governments, pressure politicians, and every single person understands and knows this in detail." </p>
