New Delhi:
Hard talk, airing of grievances and a message of unity – this was the big takeaway from the INDIA bloc meeting — held today in the aftermath of a series of setbacks. While key leader Mamata Banerjee’s party was crumbling by the hour, the DMK was absent. Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party had distanced itself and the CPM was upset over Congress criticism of its former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Amid the shifting dynamics that saw the Congress come up on top with Kerala under its belt and a driving seat in Tamil Nadu, the overriding message of unity came from the Grand Old Party.
“United we stand, divided we fall,” sources quoted Rahul Gandhi as saying, pointing to the bigger national picture during the three-hour meeting at Delhi’s Constitution Club. He warned allies against “pulling down each other” and urged them to fight together against the BJP “for the sake of the country and the Constitution”.
He also attempted to address the CPM’s grievances, saying remarks were made in the context of local political circumstances. His intention was neither to launch a personal attack nor to disparage the party’s ideology, sources quoted him as saying.
His comments came as CPM leader John Brittas raised his objections about the statements Gandhi made during the recent Kerala assembly elections, accusing then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPM of colluding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
Sources said that Brittas made it clear that CPM cadres were deeply upset by these remarks.
Comments that smacked of criticism also came from Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who raised the defection of the DMK and AAP from the Opposition ranks, sources said.
Yadav said as the largest party, the Congress bears a significant responsibility to take along the regional parties and ensure coordination within the alliance.
Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee – who many leaders hoped will spearhead the Opposition bloc one day — raised questions regarding the role of the Election Commission and central security forces during the Bengal Assembly elections.
The resounding defeat of Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has been followed by an impending exodus by party MPs while in Bengal, 58 of the party’s 80 MLAs are claiming to be the “real Trinamool”.Faced with multiple setbacks, Banerjee has urged alliance leaders to visit Bengal and meet the victims of post-poll violence, sources indicated. The Bengal leader, who greeted Sonia Gandhi with a hug and a 10-minute conversation, was also deeply in favour of avoiding criticism — a departure from her earlier questioning of the Congress’s ability to lead the alliance — sources said. The INDIA allies should “try not to criticise each other”, sources quoted her as saying.
The meeting also included discussions on the Constitutional Amendment Bill related to delimitation.
In his opening remarks, Mallikarjun Kharge noted that on April 17, the Opposition had united to defeat the Modi government on the delimitation bill in the Lok Sabha.
Although the strength of the INDIA alliance has been somewhat diminished due to the absence of the DMK and the rift within the Trinamool, the Opposition coalition remains confident that if the government reintroduces the bill during the monsoon session, the DMK will not support it, he had added.
The ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ (CJP) also came up for discussion at the meeting.
Forward Bloc leader G. Devarajan described it as an expression of the youth’s resentment towards the government. After creating a stir on social media, the CJP had staged a protest at Jantar Mantar last Saturday, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak.
Five decisions were taken during the meeting.
Announcing them after the meeting, Mallikarjun Kharge said a letter would be written to the Chief Justice of India regarding irregularities in voter lists and concerns over the fairness of elections.
Citing the NEET paper leak and irregularities related to CBSE examinations, Kharge demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
He also demanded that the government convene an all-party meeting to discuss economic issues.
The INDIA alliance, he added, will meet every two months, and coordination meetings would be held daily during parliamentary sessions.
All key opposition leaders participated in the meeting, including Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule, CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI General Secretary D Raja, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray joined the meeting
Kharge said leaders from 25 parties had participated in the meeting.
