- 16 minutes ago
A televised political debate examined the INDIA bloc's campaign on democracy and electoral integrity, alongside internal seat-sharing frictions ahead of upcoming elections. Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused the alliance of double standards and factionalism, asserting: 'This is not opposition saving democracy. This is opposition attempting to save Parivarvadh.' He cited previous criticisms exchanged among opposition leaders and highlighted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav skipping an alliance gathering. Congress national spokesperson Dr. Pooja Tripathi countered that democratic institutions, particularly the Election Commission, are compromised and insisted the opposition remains unified on fundamental issues. Political analysts Shantanu Gupta and Rashid Kidwai evaluated the complex ground realities in Uttar Pradesh, discussing vote-bank overlaps between the Samajwadi Party and Congress, competing seat expectations, and the structural limitations of national electoral coalitions during state-level contests.
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00:00So the battle lines are very clearly drawn. Congress and India bloc are talking about
00:04saving democracy. There's a march on the 2nd of October and they intend to take it down to
00:09district level with their demonstrations. BJP says this is the first admission of failure by
00:15the combined opposition that they cannot defeat the BJP electorally and they're resorting to
00:20anarchy or words to that effect. And they also say Akhilesh Yadav is staying away.
00:25That's an indication he still believes he's in the fight electorally. Let's throw it open
00:31for a wider discussion. Pradeep Bhandari, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janta Party,
00:35Dr. Pooja Tripathi, national spokesperson of the Congress Party, Shantanu Gupta, a political
00:40analyst and author, as is Rashid Kidwai, all experts in their domain. And Pradeep Bhandari,
00:48opposition is now united. They've closed ranks from Mamata Banerjee to Akhilesh Yadav,
00:54sending his representative. This is a war to save democracy. And Rahul Gandhi says it's
00:59an honour. Everyone is fighting together. Their first target is Gyanesh Kumar. Does the
01:05opposition war cry, Varee the BJP, sir?
01:13Gaurav, this is not opposition saving democracy. This is opposition attempting to save Marimar
01:19Wars. Let me just quote certain things. Quote, Rahul Gandhi's Prime Minister Narendra
01:25Modi's biggest TRP. Do you know who said this? The lady who was sitting beside Sonia Gandhi
01:31and who Sonia Gandhi patted on the back. This is Mamata Banerjee. Unquote. Let me move further.
01:36If one does nothing and is abroad half the time, then how will one do politics? For politics,
01:42there should be continuous endeavour. Do you know who said this? This is the lady Mamata
01:46Banerjee about Rahul Gandhi who Sonia Gandhi patted on the back. Let's move further. Quote,
01:51Rahul Gandhi toh maare neta hai nahi na indi gadbandan ke bhi wo neta nahi hai. Unquote. You know who
01:57said
01:57this? It is Ram Gopal Yadav who said this about Rahul Gandhi. Let us move further. Akhilesh
02:02Yadav. They want to remake their party, not oust the BJP. Congress leadership, their style of working,
02:07their borrowed candidates, they only do not want to stop the BJP. They want to help the BJP. It is
02:12Akhilesh Yadav. This is why Akhilesh Yadav personally did not come to the meeting because there are
02:17elections in Uttar Pradesh and Akhilesh wants to do bargain for the seat sharing. You have
02:22Uddhav Thakre who is with Rahul Gandhi but decided to attend it virtually did not come.
02:27Hemant Sorain who is part of the government decided to attend virtually did not come.
02:31Vijay who is part of the government in Tamil Nadu decided did not even comment or attend it.
02:36So, the truth is Rahul Gandhi yet again has failed to garner the support of the members in the
02:41opposition and this is yet again attempt to relaunch Rahul Gandhi. Earlier it was EVM,
02:46now it is SIR but the truth of the matter is Rahul will continue to be secluded in the
02:51opposition with leaders in the opposition not even believing in Rahul Gandhi's leadership.
02:55Fair enough. Let me take this to Dr. Pooja Tripathi. Mamata Banerji may be with you but
03:01the battle now will be in 2029. The first major battle ma'am is 2027 to test your battle plan
03:09in Uttar Pradesh and Akhilesh Yadav chose to stay away. Does that worry you ma'am?
03:16Of course not, girl. You know, I am happy that Pradeep Bhandari didn't bring the photograph of George Soros
03:22and just made a comment out of it because they are everything, they are politics, day and night.
03:28It revolves around what somebody said about Rahul Gandhi. What's at stake here is democracy.
03:33What's at stake here is a compromised election commission. What's at stake here is election
03:38commission being run like a Yanesh Kumar Gupta private limited and that's the fight is about.
03:44Beat 2027 elections, beat every state elections. You know, they can sit arrogantly and claim both in
03:49parliament and in Ahad that why don't you come up for 15 years? You don't come up. The way
03:54Yanesh Kumar is acting in cahoots with you, you don't come up. And that's the whole fight is about.
04:00And that's why the opposition is together. As far as Akhilesh Yadav is concerned,
04:04he talked on phone to Khadgeji and he talked on phone to Mr. Gandhi too. And also he was there
04:08for his
04:10Rajasabha or Dan Dijkstra's nomination. And that's why he could not attend. And his tweet is
04:14aptly clear that he is with. And I think every opposition party is ideologically
04:19aligned to the idea that we want to take democracy back from and from a, you know,
04:25party which is acting, which is acting along with election commission to shatter every democratic
04:32ideas of the country. We form six alteration, we TCI and its centralization, we dissent of two
04:38election commissioners above one election commission, everything is wrong with election
04:43commission. But, but the problem here is somebody said something about Rahul Gandhi. Somebody said they
04:48can't move beyond that. And that's the reason they're actually indulged in vote. Because they know
04:53legitimately and by the power of people's choice, they won't be in power for so long.
04:59Let me get Shantanu Gupta and Rashid Kidwai to respond to that. Shantanu Gupta, Akhilesh Yadav is planning
05:05the battle in Uttar Pradesh on ground. Rahul Gandhi is leading the charge on the national stage. So it is
05:12a very
05:12well-coordinated effort according to the India alliance. But then they say, if elections are fair,
05:20BJP will lose. With Gyanesh Kumar's help, match-fixing as the Congress says, Yogi will win or BJP will win
05:28Uttar Pradesh.
05:28But sir, post 2024, when Samajwadi Party and Congress together actually stole a march over BJP, are you
05:36worried or is there reason for the BJP to be worried in Uttar Pradesh?
05:42Gaurav, out of the 75 elections that happened post 2024, only five elections happened under the watch
05:49of Gyanesh Kumar. So how will they explain losing the other ones? Like almost 71 elections out of which
05:54they lost almost half of them. How will they prove it? I think that's the point number one. Second,
06:00I think the biggest problem is the problem between Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi. So if you go to
06:06Akhilesh Yadav's office in Lucknow, you'll see posters of Bhavi Pradhan Mantri, Akhilesh Yadav,
06:11right? So all and a lot of his pravaktas when they come on TV these days, they use the word
06:17Bhavi Pradhan Mantri for Akhilesh Yadav. He always say, we are the third largest party, right? And that's
06:24why he took on the turf of Rahul Gandhi and started his rally from Raibarelli. He did not participate in
06:30the meeting today, right? The nomination can be done today. Today is not the last day of our nomination.
06:33They are doing the press conference. At the same time, they are trying to eat away the headlines
06:37of each other. It's very obvious. See, what Imran Masood is speaking, what Ikra Hassan is speaking,
06:42they are not speaking on their own. What Ajay Raj is speaking, what Rajend Gautam is speaking,
06:46these are big leaders. They are not speaking on their own, right? So there is a huge clash.
06:50And, and, and Mulaim Singh Yadav advised Akhilesh Yadav, don't show your vote bank to Congress.
07:00They are vying for the same Muslim vote bank and I will come to that in just a moment.
07:06The vote bank is same. The vote bank is same. When it goes back to the bigger party, so Congress,
07:10nationally bigger party, Akhilesh Yadav fear that it will not come back. So Akhilesh Yadav
07:14wants to give them hardly 25, 30 seats. They are, they are trying for 100, 150 seats. So it's the
07:20tussle for seat sharing, nothing else. Let me get Rashid Kidwai. Few people understand the Congress
07:26and the politics around it better than Rashid Kidwai. For Rahul Gandhi, vote chori was a very major issue,
07:34even in Bihar, not as much for Tejasvi Yadav and the RJD. The results are there for all to see.
07:40Sir, do you see history repeat itself in Uttar Pradesh with Rahul Gandhi and the Congress
07:45supercharged about vote chori and Akhilesh Yadav actually fighting the elections on ground
07:50with real issues that impact voters of Uttar Pradesh. How do you see this?
07:57So, Gaurav, it is a bit of a, you know, a paradox because, uh,
08:01alliance like the India alliance is generally, it's for the Lok Sabha election. It's not the
08:05for the purpose of assembly elections and the all parties have been on record, uh, within the, uh,
08:11India alliance. The India alliance is for national level politics, uh, for Lok Sabha,
08:15not for a state assembly. So it's a bit of a tricky situation.
08:18But it will be Tejasvi in Uttar Pradesh now, sir.
08:19Absolutely. And political parties do, you know, do this kind of posturing, even when it comes to
08:24seat share, it comes to, you know, what is their freedom, all these things are there.
08:28The Samajwadi Party and Congress have trust deficit at the ground level,
08:34that among workers, right? The leadership thing, I think Rahul, Priyanka, uh, uh,
08:38Akhilesh Yadav, Nimpal Yadav, they are, they are quite friendly and they are, they understand
08:43everything. I think we should not read too much into it. But the real problem is, you know,
08:47the traction and at the, how, at the ground level things are there. And there are of course elements
08:52like Ivaran Basood or like oddballs who keep making statements and just to enhance actually
08:57the bargaining power or so, these are all not, uh, you know, I would say straight this thing.
09:02This is also a kind of, you know, coordinated this thing. I was just looking pictures, Gaurav,
09:07and many of the thing, at least five, six political parties for the benefit of everyone,
09:11I'm saying they've been allies of the NDA also in the past, from the PDP to Mamta to, uh,
09:16international conference. They all have been part of, uh, of the NDA. So these political parties,
09:22regional parties have their interests and alliance politics is India, uh, Gaurav, is from the position
09:28of strength, not from position of weakness. There is very little ideological compatibility. There is
09:33very little acceptance of leadership. So these are all inherent contradictions are there with the BGP
09:38has also faced. This time they are better off because they have Mr. Narend Modi who's seen as a,
09:43as a much stronger and a much bigger leader in the mold of Indira Gandhi and others.
09:47So that's the benefit the BGP has. There are some hiccups, but I think we should not read
09:51too many things into it. Okay. So you say Ikra Hassan and Imran Masood sparring, uh, are hiccups,
09:58but sir, when there's conversation, 50 seats to the Congress or 150 seats that the Congress is
10:03demanding, where would the meeting ground be 80, 90, 100, 110? And that is where we'll see what the
10:10bargaining power of either side is. But Pradeep Bhandari, Congress and the India bloc, they are
10:15coming together for a bigger strategy. They'll sink their differences because they have to take on,
10:20uh, the Bhartiya Janata Party. And what they've planned is five big opposition rallies as part of this
10:25campaign, mega rally in Delhi on 1st of November on the issue of vote chori. In fact, Mallikarjun
10:30Kharge is taking it a step forward. He says future elections should be conducted using ballot paper
10:36instead of EVMs. So, sir, the India bloc has a strategy. First SIR, then remove EVM and VVPAT,
10:44remove Gyanesh Kumar, bring in ballot paper. You have a big fight ahead of you, sir.
10:53I'll tell you what is the strategy of the India Alliance. You see this picture? Gaurav,
10:58if your viewers can see this picture, do you know this name of this gentleman?
11:01Is he a Samajwadi Party kare karta? Is he an individual who belongs to the Samajwadi Party?
11:07No, this man is a man who's a son of a, who's a son who's very, very close to a
11:11capitalist. And that
11:13capitalist named Mr. Ambani. And Rahul Gandhi till yesterday used to slander two capitalists,
11:19which is Mr. Radani and Mr. Ambani. And you have your Akhilesh Yadav showing the face to Rahul
11:24Gandhi that bro, we do not take you seriously. This is the, this is their strategy. And this
11:29exposes Akhilesh Yadav telling Rahul Gandhi that this is how seriously I take you in the entire
11:35scheme of things, whether it is in Uttar Pradesh or nationally. So, point number one, this exposes
11:40their strategy and this is their real inherent contradiction. Because Akhilesh knows that Congress
11:44is a chalu party which he said in 2024. So, today the consensus on the panel, Gaurav has been,
11:50it is nothing to do with SIR. It is nothing to do with election commission. As Rashid Kidwai,
11:54who covers the Congress very, very closely said, all is an attempt to align, alliance realignment in
12:00order to get the fight of 2029, where none of these people have been able to declare Rahul Gandhi as
12:06their consensus candidate. In fact, even Mamata Banerjee, when she was asked the question that
12:11whether Rahul will be the candidate of 2029, Mamata Banerjee kept mum. And it is very, very naive,
12:17I would say to think that, you know, whether it is Imran Masood who makes a statement or Ikra
12:23Hassan who makes a statement, they are making those statements without the consensus and approval
12:27of their leadership. So, there is a massive infighting which is going in Akhilesh
12:31Adham and Rahul Gandhi for seat sharing. And both know that they have to sit in the opposition.
12:35This is why they are only and only fighting for their good back. That's the only truth of the game.
12:39Let me get Dr. Pooja Tripathi to respond to this. Ma'am, you've heard what Imran Masood said. You've
12:45heard what Ikra Hassan said. Imran Masood says Rahul Gandhi will lead the charge. Ikra Hassan insists that
12:51Congress is not there in Uttar Pradesh. It has to be Akhilesh Yadav if they stand a chance against the
12:58BJP or words to that effect. And they also point out, and you heard Pradeep Bhandari point out that
13:05in the Samajwadi party, they openly call Akhilesh Yadav Bhavi Pradhan Mantri. Both parties
13:12are growing at the cost of each other. How will they collaborate? Because the BJP says beyond the
13:16Congress and India block eco-chamber, there is no real traction on ground for return of ballot paper
13:23or seeking CEC Gyanesh Kumar's removal. You know, as long as the CEC Gyanesh Kumar Gupta,
13:31you know, warms up his throne, there will be no traction on ground because, you know,
13:36he's acting in cahoots. Overnight voting percentage has increased. Form 6 has added an egg shop.
13:42Form 7 has pre-printed names of the people whose votes have been cut. 13 lakh people have been
13:47disenfranchised. And mind for 20 years, BJP government is there. 13 lakh people have fake voting cards.
13:5413 lakh people are infiltrators. Forget the 13 crore. I'm sorry. 13 crore voters are infiltrators.
14:02This is a gross failure of Bharti Janta Party government. And he can put down the photo because
14:07he, this gentleman, is the son of the candidate, your supported candidate in Jharkhand. And when you
14:14gave the Rajasabha ticket to Mr. Diamond Merchant Dholakya, how long he has been serving as the
14:19Bharti Janta Party? And which, which tent and which dhari he was bichai? When you gave a 2016,
14:27when you gave a Jharkhand Rajasabha seat to a steel businessman, a businessman in the steel industry,
14:32how long he was the Karikarta for Bharti Janta Party? The party which sits with Adani and gives every,
14:39every, every infrastructure, every project, everything to the, to the, to one. And that's where we are
14:46saying we are not against capitalists. We are against cloning capitalists. We are against everything
14:52being sold out to Adani. The tenders being diluted, the norms being sidelined, everything.
14:59Let me answer. Okay, fair enough. You've raised a point. Mr. Bhandari wants to respond before I
15:04bring in Shantanu and, okay, go on, respond, sir.
15:12Got up. Pooja is an intelligence spokesperson, so she will not listen to me,
15:16but she will definitely listen to her leader Rahul Gandhi. So let me quote Rahul Gandhi.
15:20Quote Rahul Gandhi on 7th December 2020.
15:40This is how Achillesh Yada was telling that Rahul Gandhi is a political immature and political
15:46knight. And this is the state of the opposition in Uttar Pradesh. This is the state.
15:50Pooja, I did not interrupt you. Please, please have the civility to listen to me.
15:55Dr. Tripathi, one by one. Don't get so rattled, Pooja ji. I was listening to you very patiently.
16:01One by one. Dr. Tripathi, Dr. Tripathi, let Mr. Bhandari complete his point. I'll come back to you.
16:07Pradeep Bhandari, complete your point. I also want to bring in other guests because go on, sir.
16:12Mr. Bhandari, complete your point. My only submission is,
16:15that by giving ticket to somebody who's very close to Mr. Ambani, Samajwadi party has shown
16:22its true quote unquote Samajwad A and it has also exposed Rahul Gandhi's entire campaign and this
16:28is the state of the opposition in Uttar Pradesh. On the 13 crore part, I am unfortunately shocked
16:34that 2.5, 2.8 crore disease which is dead voters is what Congress party is supporting.
16:391 crore duplicate voter is what Congress party is supporting.
16:426.3 crore permanently shifted voters what Congress is supporting. 3 crore absent voters what Congress
16:47is supporting. Supreme Court in 2024 Bela Trivedi judgment said and I quote that an SIR is essential
16:53for a free and fair election. So stop being anti-democratic and pro-parivar. Apologize to the
16:59people of the country, Pooja the party. I would have shame and left in the Congress party.
17:03So let me quickly bring in Rashid Kidwai for an analysis on this aspect that is repeatedly being
17:08made because Rashid Kidwai when the Congress says we'll go back to ballot paper, we want
17:13Gyanesh Kumar to be removed, CEC is you know or the election commission is a handmaiden of the
17:19government in power. It's the same EVM. It is the same system that helps the Congress party win Kerala
17:27or win Karnataka or win Himachal Pradesh or win Telangana or the BJP loses Jharkhand. So how is it that
17:35the
17:35same EVM and system is acceptable if the Congress is winning and unacceptable if the Congress is losing?
17:43So one of the two points, one is that I think we should not link you know the election outcome
17:48outcome with the aspect of whether people are you know permitted to vote on and denied the chance to
17:55vote. So these are two very different things. I think on factually what you're saying is correct.
17:59If you go to the Congress you know political resolution of their last plenary in 2018,
18:05the Congress very categorically in their political resolution said that it's time for go back to
18:10ballot paper. So I think you can accuse and criticize the Congress for not adhering to what
18:15they had said in their own political resolution at an AICC plenary that all elections, subsequent
18:21elections should be on ballot paper. This is something that is there. I think one more point
18:25that Mr. Bhandari is making is factually incorrect about you know dragging the name of an industrial
18:30house etc. Because in the last time when Rahul Gandhi you know had this PPT presentation,
18:36the starts of democracy, it had various names but the name of a particular business house was missing.
18:41It was not there. It was a notable omission and second thing to say to point a person who was
18:46a business
18:47person in this kind of you know political debate is I think unfortunate because all political parties
18:51except for the left on the various time have brought industrialists and you know this is
18:56Oh Mr. Kidwai. Allow me. And they have stakes in society. They have stakes in society.
19:02So why not that? Mr. Bhandari 30 second quick rebuttal before I bring in Shantanu Gupta 30 second
19:08quick rebuttal sir. Mr. Kidwai. Mr. Kidwai. I am not factually incorrect. You are there is admission of
19:15guilt on your part. So you are saying there is a deal which has happened between that capitalist
19:19house. This is why that name of that capitalist has been removed and Akhilesh Yadav has given a
19:23ticket. So speak the truth. Do not hide. Number two, you are too unfortunate about raising the name of
19:29the capitalist. Mr. Bhandari when Rahul Gandhi was raising the name of the capitalist, where is a single
19:34tweet of yours Mr. Kidwai which criticized Rahul Gandhi when he was raising the name of Adani and Ambani.
19:39Show me a single tweet of yours when you expressed disappointment and when you were unfortunate when Rahul Gandhi
19:44raised the name of the capitalist, I will clap for you on this show. No, no, no. Mr. Kidwai, do
19:50not shoot the goalposts. I respect you a lot.
19:53No, no. You are, you made an argument that it is unfortunate to bring the name of a capitalist on
19:58the show, sir.
19:59So the last 30 seconds that I have on this point of the show, Shantanu Gupta, when it comes to
20:04the fight in Uttar Pradesh,
20:06there may be differences between Samajwadi party and Congress, but they will have to sink their
20:11differences if they have to take on the BJP after 10 years of Yogi Adityanath being chief minister and
20:17BJP being in power because Rahul Gandhi is now leader of opposition. Congress is with 99 seats. Akhilesh
20:24Adav realizes he cannot win in Uttar Pradesh without Congress. So Congress will demand and get more seats,
20:30even if it is a tactical retreat for Akhilesh, he has to make that tactical retreat should that worry
20:36the BJP, sir. I think before answering that, that's a beautiful question. Just on Rashidji,
20:43Rahul Gandhi did drop the photo and name of Ambani in the recent PPT, just three weeks back in the
20:50indoor presentation, the Ambani's photo was there. So what happened in these three weeks that
20:56Ambani's photo was dropped? That's very drastic and I'm sure if you have access and inside, do tell us
21:01that why Ambani's photo was dropped within three weeks. You have far better access. No, I don't have
21:06access to Rahul Gandhi. You and Mr. Bandari, both of them. Okay, so you know, the issue of Uttar Pradesh,
21:12gentlemen, I have only 30 seconds, ladies and gentlemen on this part of the show, just 30 seconds,
21:17respond. They'll sink their differences because they have to take on the BJP, sir. That should worry the BJP.
21:22Coming to UP, Gaurav. Gaurav, coming to UP, I think Samajwadi party is far more in begging position
21:28than Congress because Congress has nothing to lose. They have two seats, they may have zero seats,
21:32five seats. They're not even a player. They're like smaller than the smallest party. But Akhle Shadav,
21:36his highest vote percentage in 2024 is only 33%, right? So he needs a six, seven percent. He doesn't
21:42have any players who can contribute. So he will beg, borrow, steal. He will do some positioning,
21:47but he has to go with Congress. Anyhow, and Congress should bargain for at least 85 seats,
21:52which they got in Lok Sabha, 17 into five, at least 85, and they will bargain for that. And
21:56that's why this messaging, this posturing is happening. Okay, so demand 150, get anything
22:01between 85 and 100. We'll be tracking that story very closely. I want to thank all our guests,
22:05because this is a debate we will continue to have over next several days and weeks,
22:09because this does intend to escalate in the days ahead.