Rise above compulsions for 2024 LS polls: Sonia Gandhi to Opposition

Conceding state-level political contradictions between the Congress and the rest of the Opposition were a fact of life, Congress President and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairman Sonia Gandhi nevertheless emphasised the spirit of unity in the Opposition, saying if the country was to be saved, sacrifices had to be made by the Opposition.

“We all have our compulsions, but clearly, a time has come when the interests of our nation demand that we rise above them. The 75th anniversary of India’s independence is the most appropriate occasion for us to reaffirm our individual and collective resolve. For its part, the Congress will not be found wanting,” she told a virtual meeting of leaders from 18 Opposition parties.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was not invited. And the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) did not attend. Key leaders who attended include National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, LJD’s Sharad Yadav, and CPM’s Sitaram Yechury. Mamata Banerji (West Bengal), M K Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand) were the chief ministers who attended, though there are several other states that are ruled by non-Congress, non-BJP parties, like Andhra Pradesh (YSR Congress), Telangana (Telangana Rashtra Samiti) and Sikkim (Sikkim Krantikari Morcha).

Gandhi said unity among the Opposition had forced the government to retreat and review its position on several issues, whether it was on Covid-19 management strategies or the state governments’ right to notify reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). “We had written jointly to the PM on May 12 on the vaccination strategy, on the repeal of the three anti-farmer laws and on the free distribution of foodgrains. Some crucial changes were introduced in the procurement system of vaccines following our intervention. Needless to say, as always, somebody else has taken the credit. This does not matter really, as long as the people of the country have benefitted,” she said.

Gandhi held the government’s “obstinate” and “arrogant unwillingness” to discuss and debate issues of public importance responsible for the washout of the monsoon session of Parliament. “These include the Pegasus snooping scandal that affects each and every citizen, the repeal of the three anti-farmer laws, the price rise of essential commodities, and the continuing assault on federalism and the institutions of our democracy,” the UPA chairman said.

“In spite of this, the session was marked by the determined unity that all Opposition parties demonstrated for over 20 days in both the Houses. We functioned in a coordinated manner. It was entirely due to the Opposition parties that the Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed to restore the long-standing rights of states to identify and notify OBCs. I am confident that this unity will be sustained in future sessions of Parliament as well. But the larger political battle has to be fought outside it,” she added.

Gandhi said the “ultimate goal” is the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She called upon all Opposition parties to begin planning systematically “with the single-minded objective of giving to our country a government that believes in the values of the freedom movement and in the principles and provisions of our Constitution”.

Mamata Banerjee called upon all leaders to fight the government “together” and “collectively”. “We must forget our internal differences to take the government head on,” Banerjee said, days after Sushmita Dev, a prominent Assam Congress leader, resigned from the Congress to join her party. She also raised farmer issues and talked about the “dictatorship” of the government and the “institutional torture”.

The Jharkhand CM said that the nation’s situation internally and externally is “not at all rosy”. He called upon the entire Opposition to take up issues including the “Parliament fiasco, silencing of democracy and institutional caging”.

Soren was of the view that issues centric to common people and states are not being addressed, sources said.

“As part of a collective framework, the Opposition including all the Opposition-ruled states should immediately take up these issues especially those being faced by non-BJP run states. We have to struggle and resist all anti-people policies in a more cohesive manner. We have to sharpen our attacks on issues like income increase, inflation, unemployment, farmers issue, Covid management,” sources quoted Soren as saying.

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