Rahul Gandhi dubs poll surveys as 'jokes'

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday dubbed poll surveys predicting that Congress could get just 100 seats in Lok Sabha polls as "joke", and said opinion polls are "not the law" and there is no question of Narendra Modi and BJP coming to power.

Holding a 'Google Hangout' with party workers, the first such interaction by any Congress leader, Gandhi also hit out at the main Opposition party over reports of an internal war within BJP over candidatures of senior leaders including Modi.

"The talk of 100 seats is a joke and you have to understand that... the entire campaign of the Opposition is to demoralise you. If you are not demoralised, we shall smash them.

"If you do not have a doubt in your mind, we are getting 200 plus seats. The entire game is to demoralise the Congress workers, to create doubts in their mind," Gandhi said replying to a question on what would Congress do after polls if it gets about 100 seats.

"First of all we fought in 2004. Every single opinion poll said we are going to get thrashed. Congress won that election. In 2009, every single opining poll said we are going to get thrashed. We doubled our tally.

"We are now fighting a third election. They always say Congress will not do well. Let us not start with the assumption that opinion polls are the law. We have to fight a strong election," Gandhi seeking to dispel the notion that Congress out down in dumps and enthuse the cadres to go out in the field and propagate UPA government's achievements.

Asking the partymen from different parts of the country "not to fall in the Opposition trap", Gandhi said Congress is a party which believes in revolution while the BJP symbolises conservationism and status quo.

"If you look at our Opposition, every single candidate is decided by one man. Their senior leaders are saying that every single candidate is decided by one man. They are heading in one direction and we are heading into entirely another direction," Gandhi said extolling the primary initiative of the party to select candidates.

To a query as to how Congress should fight the communal forces if Modi and his party come to power, Gandhi said, "we are going to win the next election. Therefore, BJP coming to power, their leader coming to power is a non-question."