Uttar Pradesh Congress on Sunday said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's call to bundle out the BJP to "less than 100" seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls is in the "interest of the country", but asserted that it's not possible without the help of the grand old party.
UP Congress chief Brijlal Khabri also extended support to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on caste-based survey in UP, but claimed that the ruling BJP does not want to go ahead with the survey.
"Congress is the biggest opposition party in the country. The fight (against the BJP) is not possible without taking Congress along. This thought is in the interest of the country. If all of us put up a fight at our respective places, then the BJP will face difficulty in crossing the 100-mark (in the Lok Sabha polls)," Khabri said.
Addressing a programme held here, Khabri said that parties, which want to work in the interest of the nation, can align with the Congress. The Bihar chief minister on Saturday said the Congress must not rest on its laurels and make use of the momentum gained during Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in forging a coalition of parties opposed to the BJP.
The JD(U) leader had asserted that such a formation must take shape "at the earliest" so that the BJP, which has a brute majority in the Lok Sabha with more than 300 seats, could be bundled out for "less than 100" in the general elections next year.
At present, the BJP has 303 MPs in the Lok Sabha. On SP's demand for a caste-based survey, Khabri said, "Caste census must take place, as it will help find out the (caste-wise) count. When the population of animals can be counted, then why can't caste census take place?"
Training his guns at UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Khabri said, "Keshav Prasad Maurya is parroting the written script of the BJP. But, from inside (his heart), he wants the caste census to take place. But he is unable to express himself."
The UP Congress chief blamed the state government for the recent deaths of a woman and her daughter during an anti-encroachment drive in Kanpur Dehat. "BJP's bulldozer policy has started to swallow people, and this policy of the BJP should be opposed throughout the country," he said.
