NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Stitching together a coalition of all opposition forces is perhaps the only way to defeat the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2019 general elections. RJD’s Lalu Yadav proved it in Bihar. And the Congress gave the BJP a scare in Gujarat by cobbling together a rainbow social coalition.
Yet the CPM has refused to see the writing on the wall. For, its central committee on Sunday ratified a draft political resolution that opposes any alliance with the Congress. In the end, puritan Prakash Karat’s line prevailed over pragmatic party general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s by 55-31 votes. Yechury wanted to ally with secular forces to defeat the BJP in 2019.
A final call on the draft will be taken at the party’s congress in April in Hyderabad, which will be held right after the elections in three Northeast states. The CPM-ruled Tripura is going to polls on February 18, while Nagaland and Meghalaya will vote on February 27.
The first setback to Opposition unity came in July 2017 after Bihar’s JD (U) Chief Minister Nitish Kumar abandoned ally Lalu and embraced the BJP. Other Opposition biggies like the SP and the BSP are still working on their internal issues and the RJD is facing a crisis with Lalu in jail for 3.5 years.
For now, the Opposition wants to watch the outcome of the elections to the three N-E states, which would bring further clarity on a united secular coalition.
“As per the adopted draft resolution, there would not be any electoral alliance or electoral front with the Congress during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Left Front alone will fight against the BJP. However, the final decision will be taken in the party congress. This was not a vote to decide who won or lost. We have no alliance with the Congress, which represents the ruling class of the country,” Yechury said at a press conference at the State party headquarters in Kolkata.
Calling it an internal matter of the CPM, AICC in-charge West Bengal, C P Joshi said: “The decision reflects difference of opinion within the CPM.” CPI leader D Raja said, “There is a need to build a platform to put up a united fight against RSS-BJP in 2019. The Congress has a place in all this. I feel that elections in three Northeast states would present a clearer picture in this regard (united opposition).”
PM puts new spin to Congress-mukt Bharat
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday gave a new spin to his push for a Congress-free India, saying what he really meant was to get rid of the kind of political culture the GOP had introduced in the country. “When I say, Congress-mukt Bharat, it’s not related to the election outcome.
It would be in the country’s interest that Congress is also freed of the Congress culture... That’s what I meant by Congress-mukt Bharat,” Modi reasoned in a TV interview. Reacting to the impasse in the higher judiciary, he said: “They are very capable people, they will sit together and find the solution to their problems. I have faith in our justice system.” Rejecting charges of jobless growth, Modi said, data in public domain suggests otherwise.