New Delhi: Accusing the government of ignoring the issues of the people and bringing the economy into a maze, against The parties on Friday announced joint protests in the states in September Congress President Sonia Gandhi urges the parties to start its preparation 2024 elections.
Sonia said the opposition should work out an alternative to forming the government based on the “values of the freedom struggle and the Constitution”. He urged parties to rise above “compulsions” and work together, while other leaders like West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said the issue of leadership does not need to be addressed at present.
The protest, which will take place between 20 and 30 September, will be a joint show of 19 parties, who had attended a virtual meeting convened by Sonia Gandhi.
The move is a clear attempt to convert the coordination established at the leadership level in recent months and into a grassroots coalition during the recently concluded Parliament session.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said “opposition unity” was not enough and the alliance needed to present an “alternative approach” as the vision presented by the RSS-BJP is being liked by the people. While CPM’s Sitaram Yechury said “the opposition is united by the Constitution of India”, Rahul argued that it needs to be brought out in the language of the people so that they can relate and understand why it is important for the country.
For the fledgling axis, well-planned protests require the coming together of the Trinamool Congress and the Left in West Bengal, the Congress in Karnataka and the JD(S), SP, RLD and Congress in UP – a preliminary test to speed up the experiment.
participated in the discussions TMCDMK, NCP, Shiv Sena, JMM, CPI, CPM, RJD, JD(S), RLD, NC and PDP, among others, emphasized unity in a joint statement issued after the meeting. Sonia said that the Parliament session demonstrated harmony between the parties, which will continue in future also.
The alliance said that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had sent a letter saying that he could not attend the meeting as he was travelling, but expressed his concurrence with the statement issued.
The tricky subject of opposition leadership also came to the fore. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said the opposition should not focus on leadership issue and “people will lead”. He said all anti-BJP parties should be included, including those who are anti-Congress. “The fight is against the BJP. Let us form a core group and work together,” he said. “Let us put our personal interests aside,” she remarked.
Interestingly, sources said that TMC leaders appeared annoyed when they asked who drafted the joint statement circulated to the participants, and were told that the author was CPM chief Sitaram Yechury.
All the chief ministers – MK Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray, Hemant Soren and Banerjee – spoke of running the BJP troubling non-BJP state governments. Soren said there was a need to jointly back down if this happened, and delayed statements of support did not help.
RLD leader Jayant Choudhary said that the meetings are not enough and an immediate action plan should be prepared.
Praising unity during the Parliament session, Sonia said, “But outside this a big political battle will have to be fought. Of course, the ultimate goal is the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for which we have to start planning systematically with one-sided thinking. The goal is to give our country a government that believes in the values of the freedom movement and the principles of our Constitution.”
In a joint statement, the opposition blamed the government for “arrogant reluctance” to discuss urgent issues such as the Pegasus snooping scandal, repeal of agricultural laws, inflation and fuel growth, which stalled parliament sessions. He said Pegasus was massive for the 2019 elections.
It said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address was recycled from earlier speeches that did not touch on the issues of the people, which was an “ominous warning” that the waste of people would continue. It noted that the economy has been grounded leading to unemployment and inflation, while poor vaccination levels were threatening a third wave of the pandemic.
In the 11-point charter of demands to the Modi government, the opposition demanded the release of all political prisoners, including those associated with the Elgar Parishad and the anti-CAA protests in Jammu and Kashmir. It demanded full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir and early free and fair elections there.
It also demanded a Supreme Court-monitored judicial inquiry into Pegasus and a high-level probe into the Rafale deal.
The opposition demanded that the government increase vaccine production, cash transfer of Rs 7,500 per month to families outside the income tax net, daily meal kits to the needy, withdrawal of central excise duty on petroleum products, repeal of agricultural laws, rampant privatization in order to stop. Incentives to MSMEs, 200 days of work under MGNREGA and the introduction of similar urban plans.
Sonia said the opposition should work out an alternative to forming the government based on the “values of the freedom struggle and the Constitution”. He urged parties to rise above “compulsions” and work together, while other leaders like West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said the issue of leadership does not need to be addressed at present.
The protest, which will take place between 20 and 30 September, will be a joint show of 19 parties, who had attended a virtual meeting convened by Sonia Gandhi.
The move is a clear attempt to convert the coordination established at the leadership level in recent months and into a grassroots coalition during the recently concluded Parliament session.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said “opposition unity” was not enough and the alliance needed to present an “alternative approach” as the vision presented by the RSS-BJP is being liked by the people. While CPM’s Sitaram Yechury said “the opposition is united by the Constitution of India”, Rahul argued that it needs to be brought out in the language of the people so that they can relate and understand why it is important for the country.
For the fledgling axis, well-planned protests require the coming together of the Trinamool Congress and the Left in West Bengal, the Congress in Karnataka and the JD(S), SP, RLD and Congress in UP – a preliminary test to speed up the experiment.
participated in the discussions TMCDMK, NCP, Shiv Sena, JMM, CPI, CPM, RJD, JD(S), RLD, NC and PDP, among others, emphasized unity in a joint statement issued after the meeting. Sonia said that the Parliament session demonstrated harmony between the parties, which will continue in future also.
The alliance said that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had sent a letter saying that he could not attend the meeting as he was travelling, but expressed his concurrence with the statement issued.
The tricky subject of opposition leadership also came to the fore. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said the opposition should not focus on leadership issue and “people will lead”. He said all anti-BJP parties should be included, including those who are anti-Congress. “The fight is against the BJP. Let us form a core group and work together,” he said. “Let us put our personal interests aside,” she remarked.
Interestingly, sources said that TMC leaders appeared annoyed when they asked who drafted the joint statement circulated to the participants, and were told that the author was CPM chief Sitaram Yechury.
All the chief ministers – MK Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray, Hemant Soren and Banerjee – spoke of running the BJP troubling non-BJP state governments. Soren said there was a need to jointly back down if this happened, and delayed statements of support did not help.
RLD leader Jayant Choudhary said that the meetings are not enough and an immediate action plan should be prepared.
Praising unity during the Parliament session, Sonia said, “But outside this a big political battle will have to be fought. Of course, the ultimate goal is the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for which we have to start planning systematically with one-sided thinking. The goal is to give our country a government that believes in the values of the freedom movement and the principles of our Constitution.”
In a joint statement, the opposition blamed the government for “arrogant reluctance” to discuss urgent issues such as the Pegasus snooping scandal, repeal of agricultural laws, inflation and fuel growth, which stalled parliament sessions. He said Pegasus was massive for the 2019 elections.
It said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address was recycled from earlier speeches that did not touch on the issues of the people, which was an “ominous warning” that the waste of people would continue. It noted that the economy has been grounded leading to unemployment and inflation, while poor vaccination levels were threatening a third wave of the pandemic.
In the 11-point charter of demands to the Modi government, the opposition demanded the release of all political prisoners, including those associated with the Elgar Parishad and the anti-CAA protests in Jammu and Kashmir. It demanded full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir and early free and fair elections there.
It also demanded a Supreme Court-monitored judicial inquiry into Pegasus and a high-level probe into the Rafale deal.
The opposition demanded that the government increase vaccine production, cash transfer of Rs 7,500 per month to families outside the income tax net, daily meal kits to the needy, withdrawal of central excise duty on petroleum products, repeal of agricultural laws, rampant privatization in order to stop. Incentives to MSMEs, 200 days of work under MGNREGA and the introduction of similar urban plans.
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