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Opposition meeting in Bengaluru to be game changer: Congress
Congress leader KC Venugopal said issues such as the ethnic violence in Manipur, unemployment, and the price rise were very important for the Opposition
The Congress on Monday said the meeting of Opposition parties in Bengaluru on Tuesday will be “a game changer for Indian politics” and help them move forward unitedly and offer solutions to issues the common people face.
“...the future course of action and...Parliamentary strategy [will also be decided at the meeting],” said Congress leader KC Venugopal. He added a consensus over issues might take time. “There are 26 political parties. We are trying to evolve unity on various issues. Whatever issues come before us, we will discuss and resolve them...Congress alone cannot take any decision,” Venugopal said.
Venugopal said issues such as the ethnic violence in Manipur, unemployment, and the price rise were very important for the Opposition. “We are all united by a common purpose...to protect democracy, to ensure constitutional rights and independence of our institutions.”
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre wants to silence the Opposition voices by misusing agencies. “Disqualification of Rahul Gandhi [from Parliament following his conviction in a defamation case] is one of the biggest examples of how the BJP is trying to muzzle us. They [BJP] want to destabilise democratically elected governments by using [federal agencies] CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] and ED [Enforcement Directorate].”
Tamil Nadu chief minister chief minister M K Stalin earlier said ED was carrying out raids at the premises of his minister K Ponmudi as part of BJP’s tactics to divert attention from the meeting in Bengaluru.
Stalin said their meetings to get rid of the BJP has become a major irritant for the ruling party at the Centre and that it was now using the ED in Tamil Nadu like it has been doing in the northern parts of the country.
Another DMK minister V Senthil Balaji was arrested on June 14 after ED raided his premises. Balaji later underwent heart surgery.
Venugopal said Manipur has been burning for the last 75 days but it is shocking that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained total silence. “...the Prime Minister has not uttered a single word on Manipur. People of the country are in great distress due to unemployment and price rise. There are no concrete measures to address the issues,” Venugopal said, outlining the key themes of the meeting.
He said there is no place for fence sitters. “They have to decide on which side they want to be.”
Venugopal indicated a possible name for the Opposition alliance might be discussed. He added seat arrangements between the parties will not happen at just “one, two or three meetings.”
Many Opposition leaders are of the view that seat-sharing talks should happen at the state level.
Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar hailed the “great beginning” and “a good start”. “Joining [of more parties] is the beginning. Thinking is progress and working together is success.”
Non-BJP leaders were in Bengaluru expected to build on the initial momentum post their first meeting involving 15 parties in Patna on June 23. Joint programmes at the national level were among the plans to be explored. HT reported that possible seat adjustments between the parties will be left for the respective state units.
A total of 24 parties, nine more than the Patna meeting, were expected to join the Bengaluru discussions spread over two days in an indication of their growing strength.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah was due to host a dinner for the participants of the meeting on Monday. The main meeting will be held from 11am on Tuesday.
The Bengaluru discussions will also not have any fixed agenda. More objective outcomes were expected after the meeting.
