NEW DELHI: Congress scion Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said he would not back down from becoming Prime Minister if his MPs asked him to do so. He said this was the constitutional way of choosing the Indian prime minister and the concept of a Prime Ministerial candidate, as being pushed by the opposition BJP, was unconstitutional.

In a 30-minute interview to Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, the Congress vice-president trashed the Gujarat model of growth and said it was benefitting only some people. “One businessman in the state has grown from Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore. He has been allotted land as large as Vadodara for just Rs 300 crore. He has got coastline as long as that of Mumbai,” he said in an obvious reference to the Adani group of companies. Entreprenuer Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani are thought to be behind BJP prime minister candidate Narendra Modi’s lavish campaign.

Appearing more confident than in his first interview a couple of months back, Gandhi said the opinion polls would be proven false and the UPA would come back to power. He said the BJP was a party of the corporates and was better equipped in marketing than the Congress.

Gandhi appeared to be on a better footing in this interview, even dropping a couple of jokes here and there. It helped that the interviewer was far less intimidating this time.

Snippets from Rahul Gandhi’s Aaj Tak interview:

• The Congress campaign is running fine. BJP has good marketing, but let us wait for the results.

• Congress has the base of the poor people. BJP has a corporate base and hence has better marketing capabilities.

• We are for decentralisation and BJP is talking about concentration of power in one person.

• We have worked more than NDA in all fields. Sadak, Bijli, Paani...

• One businessman in Gujarat now has a turnover of over Rs 40,000 crore. He was given land as large as Vadodara...

• Corruption is a reality in India. We have to stop talking and start acting. BJP doesn't say anything about what it'll do

• Our political parties have to change. Who decides the candidates? This decision has to be democratised.’

• You have to feel your candidate is being chosen and you have a hand in it. You don't any choice now.’

• Our consitution says the PM will be chosen by the MPs. PM candidates are unconstitutional.’

• I will not step back if my MPs ask me to become PM

• India is much better than the rest of the world. If we work well, we can go ahead of China

• Our growth will come to a standstill if we start fighting on basis of religion

• The mission of my life is to give power to everyone. I will do this whatever happens