The Congress is all set to host the second assembly of the Opposition leaders in Bengaluru on July 17-18.
Invitations have gone out to all events that attended the June 23 assembly in Patna, together with the Aam Aadmi Celebration (AAP).
The Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP had skipped the Patna joint press convention and shot off a letter, indicating that till the Congress and 31 Rajya Sabha MPs denounce the “ordinance”, which supplies the Centre authority over bureaucrats deputed to the Delhi authorities, it will likely be tough for his celebration to take part within the “future conferences of like-minded events the place the Congress is a participant”.
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The AAP, in its response to the Congress’s invite, has reminded the latter of the identical.
Talking to reporters, Kejriwal mentioned, “We now have acquired an invitation from the Congress celebration. Final time, within the Patna assembly, the Congress had mentioned that 15 days forward of Parliament session, it would publicly announce its opposition to the ordinance and vote in opposition to the ordinance. We're nonetheless ready.”
With simply two extra days for the opposition assembly and 5 extra days for the Parliament session, sources mentioned that within the absence of readability, it's unlikely that the AAP would attend the Bengaluru assembly. Up to now, the JD(U), RJD, TMC, NCP, DMK, CPI, CPM, SS (UBT), CPI(ML), JMM, KCR’s BRS have supported the AAP on the ordinance. The BRS, nevertheless, is just not a part of the group of 16 but.
THE STALEMATE
Even because the AAP waits for the Congress to make its stance public, its authorities in Punjab has arrested former deputy chief minister and Congress chief OP Soni in a disproportionate belongings case.
In a pointy distinction to the nimble Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP), which is continually looking out for potential allies and wastes no time in wooing them, the Congress is dragging its toes on the Delhi ordinance, regardless of the general public appeals by the AAP chief. That the host of the following opposition assembly has saved the chief of a nationwide celebration ready for even a cup of tea could possibly be an indication of high-handedness and a possible crimson flag for a lot of others.
“It's a easy factor for Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to ask Kejriwal for tea. Nothing wants to come back out of it. Give them grand tea. How does it matter? You attain out on a human degree. We should not overlook that there's a bitter relationship between the Congress and AAP and there have been personals assaults too. That creates scars, which they must overcome,” mentioned Neerja Chowdhury, veteran political analyst and creator of ‘How Prime Ministers Resolve’, which releases on August 5. “In case you are going for tough negotiations, most leaders will maintain quiet, working behind the scenes. However you'll be able to perceive Kejriwal too. Together with his powers taken away by the Centre, what will probably be left for him? Loads is at stake for him.”
CHALLENGES FOR UNITY
Regardless of the AAP-Congress problem, leaders of different Opposition events are assured that they are going to stay united. “We now have taken a resolve to defeat the BJP, so all different points will probably be sorted out,” D Raja, common secretary of the Communist Celebration of India (CPI) informed .
“The challenges for the opposition unity have been a lot better in 1977. I'm 100% positive that the AAP will probably be a part of the following assembly,” mentioned Prof Manoj Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). When requested in regards to the Congress not making its stance on the ordinance clear, he mentioned, “Let’s wait. The ordinance has not been positioned in Parliament and I can guarantee you that every one of us, together with the Congress, have at all times voted in opposition to the very thought of an unconstitutional ordinance. So all people will probably be on board."
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“If Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes again for a 3rd stint in energy, there will probably be a query mark on the way forward for the Opposition events. In some sense, that is an existential disaster for them, so they could determine to let go of this now to dwell to struggle one other day,” mentioned Chowdhury, on whether or not the Opposition events, together with the Congress, would be capable of attain a center floor and mount a united struggle in opposition to the BJP-led Nationwide Democratic Alliance (NDA).
“Alliances have by no means been straightforward. In 1977, after the Emergency, it occurred all of the sudden as a result of the leaders have been in jail. Indira Gandhi didn't count on it to occur so rapidly. Additionally in 1989, the leaders needed a struggle in opposition to Rajiv Gandhi. Now, it's a struggle in opposition to Modi. They know that even in 2019, when the BJP gained 303 seats, 63% of the favored vote was in opposition to the BJP. So when you consolidate most of this on the constituency degree… Neglect nationwide politics or chief or the narrative, simply follow the LS constituencies. Can you have got one-on-one fights in as many Lok Sabha constituencies as attainable? I feel the BJP realizes this, so it's pulling out all stops to make sure the Opposition unity doesn't go ahead,” she defined.
ANXIETY, SEAT-SHARING AND AGENDA
Not simply AAP, different events, too, could also be anxious. “The Congress is just not enjoying the position of the Massive Brother this time. Be it Trinamool Congress’s Mamata Banerjee, Kejriwal, or Samajwadi Celebration’s Akhilesh Yadav, they're apprehensive in regards to the dominance of the Congress and how much a task it might play. This time, they got here to Patna, which was a giant step ahead. The Congress, from all accounts, has indicated to them that they aren't going to play the Massive Brother. I'm informed that Rahul Gandhi has additionally informed Janata Dal United’s Nitish Kumar that he's not within the race for 2024 and the Congress would help them in each method,” mentioned Chowdhury.
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A typical agenda and seat-sharing can be the following huge challenges. Noting that the reluctance of the Congress is stemming from the considerations that it might solely reinforce the expansion of the AAP at its expense, Chowdhury mentioned, “That's the dilemma the Congress will face in every single place. If it desires to have an alignment in Uttar Pradesh with Yadav, it must be affordable about its personal floor power. If it desires a tie-up, it must go away an inexpensive variety of seats. Additionally in case of West Bengal, the Congress is tied up with the Left. Banerjee desires it to be delinked from the Left and these will probably be tough choices. If the Congress asks for seats in accordance with its previous standing, it won't work. The reality is that these regional events have gained on the expense of the Congress and they're apprehensive that if the Congress needs to be revived, it will likely be at their expense. These are pure contradictions they've to beat. That's not straightforward in any respect.”
‘OPPOSITION JODO’ FOR KHARGE?
Gandhi walked 4,000 km on his ‘Bharat Jodo’ mission. Ought to he now deal with honing his political abilities to unite the Opposition or at the least not rub the potential allies the flawed method?
Chowdhury believes that Gandhi ought to proceed to deal with his yatras and go away the job of coping with the allies to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. “Bharat Jodo was profitable. It was not due to the household. It was one thing he did himself. In any case, he was the image of entitlement in politics and folks noticed him strolling and coming to them to listen to them out. However Opposition events don’t essentially settle for him as their attainable chief. Let that position be performed by Kharge. ‘Opposition Jodo’ is perhaps a superb slogan, however it's higher that Gandhi walks from east to west, as they're planning on doing," she mentioned.
Chowdhury additionally identified how the Congress and Gandhi have modified tacks from being brash to getting their act collectively – within the method during which they introduced TS Singh Deo and Bhupesh Baghel collectively in Chhattisgarh, and dealt with Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan. In each instances, Gandhi was within the background, whereas Kharge took the lead.
Whereas 10 of the Opposition events have already declared their help for the AAP over the ordinance, all eyes at the moment are on the Congress’s subsequent step.
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