NEW DELHI: Amid anticipation of a better Congress performance in the five states that recently went to the polls - results of which will be declared on Tuesday - opposition leaders from 21 political parties harped on quickly forging a grand alliance to take on the BJP and the RSS in run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Two sulking big parties, the BSP and the SP, however, chose to stay away.The two-hour long meeting decided to work out an “amalgamation of possible pre- and post-poll alliances at the earliest”.
Later addressing the media, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said there was consensus in the room over putting the BJP on the mat. “The government is taking measures that are dangerous for our country. We are not going to tolerate what is happening to the CBI, the RBI and other public institutions. There was consensus on working together to defeat the BJP and the RSS. We will have similar coordination in future both inside and outside Parliament,” said Rahul, flanked by other opposition leaders. Coordinated by Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu, the participants included biggies like Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin.
Others who participated in the meeting included RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, JD(S) patriarch Deve Gowda, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. “There was a common view that the Assembly poll results could bring other (BSP and SP) parties into the fold,” said a leader. The SP and the BSP are upset as the Congress failed to give them a decent share of seats in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. But Rahul tried to play it down saying the process of forging unity would be carried out in an open, respectful manner.