New Delhi: After forging opposition unity among 19 parties during the ongoing Parliament session, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is going to convene a meeting of 'like-minded' leaders soon to discuss the 2024 national polls. “There was a general demand to call a meeting of top-level leaders. We are working on that,” AICC general secretary in charge of Organization KC Venugopal said.
According to party insiders, the idea for a meeting of the opposition leaders was floated during a dinner that Kharge had hosted for 'like-minded' parties on March 27. Kharge’s dinner diplomacy had come in the wake of rare opposition unity displayed inside and outside Parliament after Rahul Gandhi was disqualified on March 24 as a Lok Sabha member following his conviction and sentencing in a 2019 defamation case on March 23.
AICC leaders who were present during Kharge’s dinner get-together said, “There were a lot of discussions in the meeting regarding 2024 but we don’t want to reveal all of those things.” According to these leaders, during the dinner meeting, Rahul told the opposition leaders that the fight was not about him but about 'saving democracy' in the country. “These 19 parties are united against the BJP. The Shiv Sena is also with us,” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said.
Even the TMC, which had been staying away from Kharge-led opposition strategy meetings inside the Parliament complex, had attended the dinner. Though the Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray faction had remained absent as it was miffed over Rahul’s “Savarkar” remark, the Maharashtra-based party patched up with the Congress the next day after Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi met Sena leader Sanjay Raut.
For the Congress managers, the display of opposition unity among the 19 parties has acted as a pressure group to demand a JPC probe into the Adani issue. The Congress has presented Rahul’s disqualification as a result of the leader asking tough questions from the government over the Adani issue.
“Some of the political parties are fighting each other in the states. Despite the difference in the states, they are all coming together to save the democracy and the institutions of the country. Clearly, that itself is a great inspiration for all of us to fight against these evil forces. Certainly, there will be electoral prospects also due to these things,” said Venugopal.
Ramesh, who is chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, said the parliament logjam had not been resolved to date but the issue of Rahul’s apology for his London remarks was over as he had been disqualified from the Lok Sabha. “Our demand for a JPC probe into the Adani use will continue on Monday, April 3 also. The Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman have tried to end the logjam but there has been no result,” said Ramesh.
“The RS chairman told us “please, compromise, do not be rigid” without telling us what was the compromise formula,” said Ramesh. According to Ramesh, in order to deal with the opposition unity in Parliament, the government has passed the finance bill without discussion and may adopt the same route for some other legislations.
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