Shillong Dec 11: Former Meghalaya Chief Minister, Dr Mukul Sangma exuded confidence that the Congress would bounce back to power in 2019, and said that the victory of the party in three states, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan showed people’s complete rejection of the BJP’s anti-people policies.

“It was a rejection of the BJP’s anti people’s policies. They (BJP) have subjected the people of the nation to agony by bringing insensitive policies starting with demonetization and all tall promises were made just to get votes to come to power. The people have found out, and I must say that the results showed complete rejection of the anti-people policies,” Dr Mukul said on Wednesday.

Out of five states, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram that went to Assembly elections recently, the Congress won in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The Congress came second in Telangana, and failed to retain power in Mizoram.

Asked, what do the results indicate for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Dr Mukul said, “It definitely indicates the trend, and it reflects writings on the walls.”

Whether he was confident that the Congress would bounce back to power in 2019, Mukul  said, “people will throw out the BJP government and that has been indicated in this whole mandate. They have been trying to do all they can, where the Prime Minister went and announced some populist schemes to woo voters in Rajasthan on the day when the Election Commission was supposed to announce the elections. He (Prime Minister) announced so many populist schemes after knowing that people will reject them (BJP) and trying to catch the last straw.

Look at the promises made in Madhya Pradesh. You can fool some people sometime, but not all people all the time. The BJP has been engaging in politics of lies and sometimes trying to whip up people’s sentiments at the last moment. We could see the desperation and this reflects the ground reality across the nation. These people (BJP and others) came to power here in Meghalaya too by making tall promises but the same situation is already prevailing in the state. You ask anybody across the state who thought that these people would probably do what they have promised, but now the people will tell you something else.

With tall promises, they thought they can get votes and get away.  It is a good thing for the nation because from the way it happened, people will have reasons to believe that democracy was under threat. These very mandates ultimately give hope to everyone across the nation. The people of the country know how to response to a given situation and make a decision for the larger good of the nation,” Mukul said.

On the BJP’s slogan Congress-mukt Bharat, the former Meghalaya Chief Minister said, “In some places you have defeat and bad outcome, which is expected in democracy. But if you look at Mizoram and tried to compare with other states, it is a different ball game because you have to know what exactly was prevailing in Mizoram, and how it was.”