INDIA alliance strong, quitting of 2 parties will have no impact: Jairam Ramesh
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the discussion is underway with the AAP, DMK, NCP, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Mamata Benerjee over seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh on Monday said that the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) quitting the INDIA bloc will not have any impact on the front and added that the alliance is strong, and all its partners will soon finalise the seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“INDIA alliance is strong. (Bihar chief minister and JD-U leader) Nitish (Kumar) ji has done volte-face and the RLD is trying to commit the same. There were 28 parties in the alliance and two parties were reduced,” Ramesh said in a reply to a question at a press conference in Barpali village in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district, where Rahul Gandhi’s Nayay Yatra reached on Monday.
“The discussion is underway with the AAP, DMK, NCP, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Mamata Benerjee ji over seat sharing (for the Lok Sabha polls). Nitish and RLD parting ways will not have any impact on the alliance. We are strong and soon the seat sharing in different states will be given a final touch,” he added.
His statement comes a day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the people of Delhi will ensure the AAP wins all seven Lok Sabha seats in the Capital, triggering speculation that the party was set to break away from the opposition alliance. Earlier on Saturday, Kejriwal had said that his party will not ally with the Congress for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Punjab and the lone seat in Chandigarh. Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had also announced that her party will contest the Lok Sabha polls alone in the state.
Hitting out Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ramesh said, “Modi ji had earlier talked about ‘one nation, one tax’ and ‘one nation, one election’ but in reality, it has become ‘one nation, one company’ in Modi ji’s 10-year tenure. Congress party and Rahul ji have been raising voice against this capitalism through Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. In the last 10 years, inflation is rising, (it has seen) the highest unemployment rate in the last 45 years and public service undertakings were sold.”
“In Bastar the PM had said (ahead of last year’s assembly elections campaign) that NMDC’s steel plant will not be privatised, but he has been engaged in selling it for the last three years. Jungles are being cut and coal mines are being given away. If Modi ji retains power at the Centre, the NTPC’s power plant will also be sold. Even Bhilai, Bokaro, Durgapur and Rourkela are in danger as PM and his special friend don’t want to leave any PSU,” he said.
Asked whether Rahul Gandhi will be the face of the opposition alliance, he said, “The Congress’ face in elections is this (showing palm, the party’s symbol), the party goes with the same face in elections. In our country elections are not fought between two persons.”