Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday challenged the perception that the BJP was most likely to win the Lok Sabha election and said "this balloon will explode".

 

 Gandhi told the media here that the Bharatiya Janata Party's claims now were akin to the "India Shining" ad blitz it carried out ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha battle that the BJP lost to the Congress.

 

 "When it comes to perception, the 'India Shining' campaign was a brilliant campaign. Everyone including you was convinced that the BJP was winning… "The BJP has the ability to carry out India Shining campaigns… I am sure this balloon will explode."

  

 Gandhi added that he had "a slight" understanding of the ground reality in Uttar Pradesh. "This balloon is going to burst in UP 100 percent, not 90 percent."  He insisted that it was the Congress which had more allies in the country but the popular projection was different.