By IANS,
Amethi : Priyanka Gandhi, canvassing for her brother Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Tuesday did not rule out the UPA forming a post-poll alliance with the Left, but said the Communists should do a rethink on their “regressive” approach with regard to building up a strong economy.
In an interview to Times Now channel, she did not rule out the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) forming a post-poll alliance with the Left as coalition politics “is a reality”.
“You should stick to your principles. But coalition politics is a reality and one cannot tell the future,” Priyanka Gandhi said.
She was reiterating what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been saying of late, including on Monday, that the door was open to forming an alliance with the Left parties after the polls.
Asked about her take on the Left’s ideology, Priyanka Gandhi said: “I think the need of the hour is to take the country forward to the modern era. The economy has to be strong.
“So any ideology which holds it back and is regressive in that sense, has to do a rethink,” she said.
Asserting that power was needed to bring about change, Priyanka Gandhi said that the imperative of the Congress party was development and not religious and caste considerations.
“One thing which amazes me is how people are clear about what they want. And what they want is development and to move forward�. People know when they are being used politically, when their religion is being used politically, when their caste is being used politically.
“So when political parties raise those issues and not development I see it as incongruent,” she said in reaction to UPA ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad accusing the Congress too of being responsible for the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992.