Opposition unity goes for a toss as Rahul meets PM Modi

At least, in the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.​
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting with a delegation of Congress leaders led by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Friday | PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting with a delegation of Congress leaders led by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Friday | PTI

NEW DELHI: The 16-party opposition unity went for a toss after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a group of senior Congress leaders in the age-old style of ‘prayer and petition’ , to urge him to consider giving loan-waiver to distressed farmers. At least, in the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Angry BSP, SP, Left, NCP and DMK pulled out of Sonia Gandhi led protest march to Rashtrapati Bhawan on the government’s controversial demonetisation drive and its impact on the people. Also, to blame the treasury for the winter session wash out. She led a down-sized opposition march with TMC, JD-U, RJD and RSP. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had come down from Kolkata to lead the first opposition protest to Rashtrapati Bhawan in the early part of the session, in which the Congress and the Left did not join, quickly moved in to work on the divided lines.

Congress leaders and other Opposition politicians address <g class=
Congress leaders and other Opposition politicians address

The TMC reached out to BSP and SP leaders post-march. “We told them, we understand their problem and appreciate the reason for which they pulled out-they have to fight elections in theirs State,’’ TMC MP Derek O’Brien said, adding that their party leader would have done it differently.

TMC leader Mamata, O’Brien, said, would have displayed more political sense. “Not diluted the attack on the PM, got distracted from the core issue. Opposition unity should have taken precedence,’’ he said.  
This slight misstep,  two days after Rahul vowed to “explode the PM’s balloon’’ and cause an “earthquake’’ with revelations on the demonetisation issue, not only made the Congress vice-president look inconsistent but also helped Mamata upstage him. The TMC quickly reached out to the two disgruntled members of the opposition — the SP and the BSP — and re-emerged as the unifying force.
Asked “what happened”, BSP MP Ashok Siddharth shot back: “Why, don’t we care for the farmers? Didn’t we raise slogan for the farmers?’’  That the Congress took a unilateral delegation to the PM on farmer’s plight in the backdrop of the UP/Punjab polls amidst lowering of wheat import duties and the currency crisis disrupting the winter sowing season, was not appreciated.
The Left too was no less upset. CPI’s D Raja, however,  said that his party has signed the memorandum submitted to the President. “But how could we walk off to meet the President when the house (Lok Sabha) was still in session,’’ he asked.

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury was almost dismissive of the protest march. “From the beginning, we were telling them (other opposition parties) what’s the point in going to the President. What can he do? We’ve to fight it out inside and outside Parliament, on the streets…we had agreed for opposition unity.’’
The NCP’s Praful Patel justified his party’s withdrawal from the march citing reasons similar to the BSP’s: “Don’t we care for the farmers?’’ In short, the divide in the opposition rank helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi assume the moral high-ground —“nation above the party…Opposition backing corruption’’— to indirectly paint the Congress-led protest as desperation of electoral politics dating back to  Indira era.

He never even bothered to mention about the meeting ground found between the main opposition party and the government. At the meeting, the PM made no commitment for a loan waiver as Rahul Gandhi later told the media. But the PM did tell the Congress delegation: “We should be meeting like this.’’ Upon which Mallikarjun Kharge quipped, “Even if our hearts don’t meet, we can at least cooperate and shake hands.’’ If the appointment given by the PM was intended to divide the opposition ranks, he had succeeded in it. Even though, it could not save the winter session.

Mulayam rules out tie-up with Cong in UP  
That the meeting with PM could cost the Congress more than just a rapture in the opposition rank was evident from Samajwadi Party supremo’s rebuttal to a media group later. “There’s no talk of any alliance with the Congress’’, Mulayam Singh Yadav declared, with an assertion that the SP will ‘go it alone’ in UP. He totally ruled out a seat-sharing or power-sharing pact with the grand old party.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com