‘Congress happy playing second fiddle to survive battle’

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said the Congress was fighting a “battle for survival” by looking for “piggyback rides” on alliances in various states. Mr Jaitley was in the city to address two election rallies in support of party candidates Roopa Ganguly and Rahul Sinha, the BJP national secretary.

“So far as the Congress is concerned, nothing can be expected from them. Both their politics and policies are opportunistic. It is their battle for survival as they are looking for piggyback rides. In search of a few seats, they aligned with the JD (U) and RJD in Bihar, the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the Left Front in Bengal,” he said.

Mr Jaitley even claimed the Congress’s level of ambition has come down and, as a result, they were content being the “tail-enders” of an alliance.

“In its battle for survival, it is content to play the second or third fiddle. The level of its own aspirations has come down. Its level of ambitions is so low that it does not mind becoming the tail-ender of an alliance. Be it Bihar, Tamil Nadu or West Bengal, it is the tail-ender of the alliance,” he said.

Mr Jaitley added, “Without any political or ideological stand, the Congress will never be a serious player in politics.”