KALABURAGI: The meeting of the leaders of like-minded opposition parties scheduled to be held on July 13 to discuss the strategies to be adopted for the Presidential Elections has been postponed to July 17, said the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge here on Monday.
Speaking to media persons, Kharge said the date of the meeting has been postponed because of the preoccupations of several opposition leaders. They will join the meeting personally or through online conferences or through WhatsApp, he said.
Replying to a question, he said JMM has not yet made its stand clear. AAP has assured the former chief minister of Maharashtra that it would support the candidate of opposition parties Yashwant Sinha. Janata Dal (S) has already announced that it will make a decision on whom to support in its Parliamentary Committee Meeting. After all, winning or losing in the Presidential Elections is secondary. It is an ideological fight to protect the democracy in the country. To protect democracy in the country, unity among the opposition parties is necessary, he said.
Reacting to the political developments in Srilanka, the senior Congress leader said that the developments in the neighboring country Srilanka are unfortunate. If there is a good rule in our neighboring countries, we would be happy. The Indian Government has maintained good relations with Srilanka for many decades, he said. Kharge said that he would not comment on the internal crises of Sri Lanka. Our country should maintain good relations with the democratically elected government, he said.
When asked whether India too will face similar economic crises like that of Sri Lanka in future, Kharge said that he does not want to compare the economic situations of India with Sri Lanka. But his senior leader Rahul Gandhi and he himself have told many times that the economic condition of India is not good and inflation is on the rise. We have warned the Prime Minister also. But he has not bothered. Our country should learn lessons from the happenings in Sri Lanka and Japan, he said. Kharge said that he nad his party condemns the murder of former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He was a good man and has given good governance in Japan when he was the Prime Minister, Kharge said.
The leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha criticised the NDA government as "anti-people."
"They announced Ujwala Yojana. Now, what is the fate of the beneficiaries of the scheme? The union government launched Agnipath Yojana. What should the people who worked as Agniveers do after completion of their tenure?" he questioned.