CHENNAI: Speaking his mind on the need for unity among opposition parties to trounce the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and voicing his unflinching support for Congress to be part of such an alliance, Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Wednesday said the idea of forming a third front would be pointless and a post-poll alliance among parties is not a practical idea.
Speaking in an emotional tone at the massive meeting organised to mark his 70th birthday in Chennai, Stalin said, “Parties should dismiss the idea of forming an alliance without the Congress.”
Sharing the stage with various opposition leaders, former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah said Stalin could be a PM candidate in the 2024 polls and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav expressed confidence that Stalin would get national prominence.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, however, sounded cautious and said the primary objective should be to put up a united fight against “divisive forces” and the issue of the prime ministerial candidate was “not the question.”
Stating that he was glad that the dais served not just to celebrate his birthday but also to launch new politics that India needs, Stalin said, “Dear Mallikarjun Kharge, you have already given me your birthday present. I consider a resolution passed at the 85th plenary session of the Congress to be an ideal birthday gift.”
The resolution had said, “We are prepared to work with like-minded political parties on the basis of a common constructive programme to preserve and protect the Constitution and to address three main challenges facing the country — Economic inequality, intensifying social polarization, and deepening political dictatorship. We will always fight to protect our political values against the BJP’s authoritarian, communal, and crony capitalist onslaught.”
‘2024 polls, an opportunity to trump BJP’
“If we take decisions about national politics keeping in mind our regional-level calculations, we will be the losers. All parties should understand this. I say this to all parties including Congress,” Stalin asserted in the presence of Kharge. The DMK president also recalled that over the past four years, the DMK-led alliance had won all the elections.
“The reason for this is the unity amongst us. I said this at the Salem public meeting in 2021 in the presence of Rahul Gandhi. I said an alliance akin to the one in TN should be formed at the national level. TNCC leaders KS Alagiri and KV Thangkabalu were witnesses to my suggestion,” he said.
Charging that the BJP is waging a war against states governed by opposition parties, Stalin said, “We do understand their long-term plans and are fighting an ideological battle. The 2024 general elections are an opportunity to win our battle. I am glad that my birthday event has transformed into a meeting to chalk out strategies to win that battle. I request all the leaders who have come here to take this message to Delhi and all across the subcontinent. Stress on unity must form the basis for our victory. Let’s sow now. Let the next March be the time when we would reap.”