Congress was out-funded in this election: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh Tuesday said his Congress party has been "out-funded" as far as this election was concerned, but maintained that the exit polls which predict a BJP clean sweep would be proved wrong on counting day.

The amount of money spent by Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for campaigning in this election was "astronomical", Ramesh said at an interaction with the media at the Indian Women's Press Corps here.

"We (the Congress) also spent money but our level of spending was peanuts compared to what they (the BJP) were spending," he said.

However Ramesh maintained that the exit polls "will be proved wrong like they were earlier in 2004 and 2009".

"The Congress will do far better than what the polls have predicted and BJP will not do as magnificently as they say," he said.

Questioned about the quality of campaigning in this election, he said: "All campaigns are brutal and aggressive - this was no different. Inspite of our best efforts, the campaign did become communal. BJP started the campaign from Muzaffarnagar. The Gujarat model was just a Mukhauta (mask)."

"The BJP which began their campaign from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh (where communal riots occurred last September), managed to polarize the campaign towards the last phase," he added.

"The Congress party was handicapped as we were not fighting the BJP but an individual. In these circumstances, we could never have a discussion on the policies... everything became individual-centric," the minister said.

Favouring state funding of elections, he said: "There should be a serious expenditure audit. The current norms of expenditure are not realistic."

Ramesh said that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi couldn't be blamed if the party fails to return to power. "Rahul was an indefatigable campaigner. He was there in every nook and corner. He brought spirit to our campaign."

"Our (Congress) campaign was party-centric and not person-centric," he added.

On whether the Congress would have got better results had Gandhi's sister Priyanka Gandhi been more active, Ramesh said: "Priyanka Gandhi had a backroom role and a public role in only Amethi and Rae Bareli (the constituencies from where Rahul Gandhi and his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were contesting).

"But her back office role was much more substantive. She was a sounding board and she had some ideas."

Even as he listed the achievements of his ministry, Ramesh said he didn't think that flagship schemes like Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act would be scrapped if the BJP comes to power.