- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Amid speculation of Indian opposition unity against prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general elections of 2024, a key development took place in the space of opposition politics on Friday (17) when two leaders from the opposition met each other in Kolkata in the eastern state of West Bengal.
Akhilesh Yadav, former chief minister of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and supremo of the Samajwadi Party, met West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. The latter was also set to meet her counterpart from the neighbouring state of Odisha on Thursday (23), Naveen Patnaik, who heads the Biju Janata Dal.
According to a report by NDTV, the three parties opposed to the BJP have agreed to keep an equal distance from both the BJP and the Indian National Congress, the other all-India party, indicating that they will follow a policy of treating both the big parties equally.
The strategy, according to the report, is aimed at countering the saffron party’s attempt to portray Rahul Gandhi, the former chief of the Congress and currently a parliamentarian, as a key leader of opposition parties coming together
The BJP has been attacking Gandhi to apologise after he alleged that opposition leaders’ microphones have been muted in the Indian parliament during a speech made in London recently. According to the opposition parties, the ruling party has been targeting them using the former chief of the Congress.
“Rahul Gandhi made comments abroad and BJP will not let parliament function till he apologises. This means they don’t want parliament to function by using the Congress. The BJP wants Rahul Gandhi to be the face (of opposition) so that it helps the BJP. There is no need to decide on a prime ministerial face (for 2024 election),” Trinamool Congress parliamentarian Sudip Bandyopadhyay was quoted as saying by NDTV.
The veteran politician also said that it is a fallacy to think the Congress is the opposition’s “big boss”.
“Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will meet Naveen Patnaik on March 23. We will discuss this (plan to maintain equidistance from BJP and Congress) with other opposition parties. We are not saying it is a third front, but regional parties have the strength to take on the BJP,” he was quoted as saying.
Yadav said they wanted to maintain equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress.
“In Bengal, we are with Mamata Didi. Right now, our stand is we want to maintain an equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress,” Yadav told reporters in Kolkata.
“Those who avail the ‘BJP vaccine’ are not bothered by CBI, ED or I-T,” he said, taking a dig at former opposition party leaders against whom cases by central investigation agencies were dropped after they joined the BJP’s ranks.
