The 2014 elections will be an "uphill" task for UPA because of anti-incumbency factor, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said even as he asserted that the Congress will stick to its strategy of not promoting a person unlike the BJP.
"We do not suffer from any insecurity complex due to which we have to constantly say who am I, I have got a magic wand or I will create heaven. We do not feel that we require to do this," the Rural Development minister said in Ahmedabad about BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, without taking his name.
"We know that 2014 will be an uphill task for us since anti-incumbency is a factor. We have ruled for ten years, but our strategy is not to promote a person. Ours is a positive strategy which is not based on 'I'. This 'I' is not in our dictionary and will never be," he said.
Trying to dispel a notion that the 2014 elections would be fought on the basis of personalities, Ramesh said, "The election will be fought between the ideology of the RSS versus the ideology of the Congress, what they stand for and what has been their history".
"People give votes to parties and not to a person. They vote for the hand symbol of the Congress," Ramesh said.
Replying to a question about projecting Rahul Gandhi as a prime ministerial candidate, Ramesh said, "Rahul Gandhi leads us. He formulates our strategy for us. So he is present".
"I want to ask only one question to the Gujarat Chief Minister who is trying to become champion of industries - why is he blocking the Goods and Service tax (GST)? All chief ministers and even the BJP as a party is ready for GST, but it has been derailed only due to opposition from Modi.
Is he blocking it because the idea did not come from Ahmedabad?" Ramesh said.
Ramesh also spoke about the Land Acquisition Bill, listing out how it would help farmers and said, "Now, nobody will be able to acquire farmers' land without their consent".
He also said that he would study loopholes cites by NGOs here in the recently passed Land Acquisition Act.
Since land acquisition comes in the concurrent list, states would be bound to follow the Land Acquisition Act which was passed in the recent monsoon session of the Parliament.
In a reply to a question about Bhavnagar farmers refusing to give their land for Mithi Virdi nuclear power plant, Ramesh said that the nuclear power plant comes under public purpose and that is why consent of farmers would not be required.
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