Congress should be fulcrum of any alliance against NDA: Tejashwi Yadav

In an interview to news agency PTI, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav said the Congress should only focus on the 200-odd seats in the Lok Sabha where it is in a direct fight with the ruling BJP. “

The Congress party should be the fulcrum of any national coalition against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, said Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday amid growing chorus for a new front by the regional parties against the NDA.

Yadav also recalled how his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad warned that the 2014 parliamentary elections would decide whether the country will remain intact or get divided. (File photo)

In an interview to news agency PTI, Yadav said the Congress should only focus on the 200-odd seats in the Lok Sabha where it is in a direct fight with the ruling BJP. “On the remaining seats, with an open heart and mind, it should let regional parties be in the driver’s seat in their respective strongholds...”

The RJD leader’s statement assumes significance in the backdrop of the recent Rashtra Manch meeting among prominent Opposition leaders and civil society members at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in Delhi ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The June 22 meeting sparked off rumours of a “third front”, besides the Congress and BJP. However, on June 25, Pawar said any alternative front, if formed, cannot leave the Congress. On June 26, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, too, dismissed the prospect of an Opposition alliance without the Congress.

Asked about the meeting, the RJD leader said he was not aware of what transpired at the meeting, but “definitely all like-minded parties should come together with a common minimum programme to defeat this most oppressive, divisive, authoritarian and fascist government”.

Yadav also recalled how his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad warned that the 2014 parliamentary elections would decide whether the country will remain intact or get divided. “I think most of the parties and citizens of our country have realised this today like never before.”

Yadav also talked about reaching out to Lok Janshakti Party MP Chirag Paswan, who is facing rebellion from leaders of his own outfit. “The real tribute to him (Ram Vilas Paswan) would be carrying forward his values... and that is possible only when Chirag ji joins this existential fight against [MS] Golwalkar’s Bunch of Thoughts,” said Yadav.