NEW DELHI: In a quantum lead in catching the popular imagination, the united opposition of 26 parties on Tuesday named itself INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) and turned tables on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by making the electoral battle as INDIA versus NDA.
While West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, dared the NDA to challenge INDIA, senior leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi said “fight is for the voice of the nation,” as the Opposition’s fight is against the BJP’s ideology.
Addressing reporters after the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Opposition will fight the 2024 elections unitedly and succeed.
The next meeting of Opposition parties will be held in Mumbai. Its date will be declared shortly. A secretariat will be set up for campaign management, mostly in Delhi, Kharge said.
An eleven-member Coordination committee will be set up, Kharge said addressing reporters, adding that the members of the committee will be announced in the Mumbai meet. The date is yet to be announced.
Sources said that the secretariat will have a Convenor and a President, likely to be Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi respectively. The secretariat will spell out a common agenda, plan campaign strategies, joint rallies and programmes, and strive to arrive at a consensual seat-sharing formula ahead of the 2024 polls.
Declaring that the Congress is not interested in power or the post of prime minister, Mallikarjun Kharge made it clear to leaders of 26 opposition parties got together in Bengaluru to discuss their strategy ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In his inaugural address on the second day of the key opposition meeting, the Congress chief said, “Our intention in this meeting is not to gain power for ourselves. It is to protect our Constitution, democracy, secularism and social justice.”
He admitted to differences among opposition parties at the state level but noted that these are not ideological.
“These differences are not so big that we cannot put them behind for the sake of the common man and middle class suffering due to inflation, for the sake of our youth suffering due to unemployment, for the sake of the poor, Dalits, adivasis and the minorities whose rights are being crushed silently behind the scenes,” Kharge said.
He said 26 parties are here together, and they are in the state governments in 11 states today.
“The BJP did not get 303 seats by itself. It used the votes of its allies and came to power and then discarded them. Today, the BJP president and its leaders are running from state to state to patch up with their old allies,” he said.
Kharge also launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is now trying to bring together parties that had splintered and this shows that “he is afraid of the opposition parties”.
In his opening remarks, the Congress presidentalso alleged that every institution in the country is being turned into a weapon against the opposition.
“The CBI, ED, Income Tax are routinely used. False criminal cases are filed against our leaders so that they get caught in the legal process. MLAs are being blackmailed or bribed to move to BJP and topple governments,” he claimed.
Kharge welcomed all the parties at the meeting and urged them to shed their individual differences to be together and take on the BJP.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi said: “We have all decided to come up with an action plan where we will unitedly talk about what we are going to do.”
Addressing reporters, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal targeted the ruling BJP government at the Centre saying they have “destroyed economy, sold railway, airports, land and everything to own people.”
“Nine years ago, Narendra Modi was elected with a huge majority. But in the nine years, we can’t talk of one sector that has grown,” Kejriwal said. He added that it is good news that the number of Opposition parties has grown from 16 to 26.
Addressing reporters, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said the Opposition meeting was constructive and fruitful. Taking a jibe at the NDA, Mamata said: “Government has only one job: Buying governments.”
“NDA, can you challenge INDIA,” she asked.
You’ve heard of the UPA. The NDA is still there, but there is no existence. So, in the coming days, the danger that lives are in – be they of Dalits, minorities, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Christians and be it in Manipur, Arunachal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar or Maharashtra – this government at the Centre has only one job, buying and selling governments.
“We have taken up a real challenge. NDA, can you challenge India? BJP, can you challenge India? We love our motherland. We are the patriotic people of this country. We are for the country, for youth, for farmers, for good economy, for Dalits, for all. Our challenge will be, all focus, all publicity, all campaigning, all programmes, they will be under the banner of INDIA. If anybody has a challenge, catch us if you can. Save India from disaster. Save the people of India. The BJP is making deals to sell the country, to buy democracy. This is why they don’t let independent agencies function,” she said.
Speaking at the Opposition unity conclave in Bengaluru, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said, “It’s important we put up united stand against everything going wrong: Constitution eroded, secular fabric undermined”
Importantly, the leaders have agreed to have a common minimum agenda designed around “safeguarding democracy, Constitution, and secularism” and livelihood issues like inflation and unemployment.
The 26 parties participating in the summit are Congress, All India Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Aam Aadmi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Nationalist Congress Party – Sharad Pawar faction, Shiv Sena (UBT), Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party, All India Forward Bloc, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Kongunadu Makkal Desia, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, Indian Union Muslim League, Kerala Congress (M) and Kerala Congress (Joseph).
#######################################
PM FIGHTING FOR EXCLUSIVE INDIA, SAYS SIBAL
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also hit out at the NDA’s meeting currently underway in New Delhi and said, ” The opposition has taken this name (INDIA) because, in the coming months, it will be India vs PM Modi because all the people here (opposition) are fighting for the inclusive India which is written in the Constitution and PM Modi is fighting for exclusive India.”
Referring to Modi’s remark regarding families in politics, Sibal rebutted and said, “Which dynastic politics he (PM Modi) is talking about. Does Arvind Kejriwal belongs to a dynasty or Ashok Gehlot belongs to a dynasty?These statements are not based on any thing substantial.”
######################################
