Accusing the government of ignoring people’s issues and plunging the economy into a spiral, the opposition parties announced joint protests across states in September with Congress president Sonia Gandhi urging the parties to start preparing for the 2024 elections.
Sonia said the opposition must work for an alternative to unveil a government based on "values of the freedom struggle and the Constitution". She urged the parties to rise above "compulsions" and work together while other leaders like West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the issue of leadership need not be addressed at present.
The protests, to be held between September 20 and 30, will be a joint show of 19 parties that attended a virtual meeting called by Sonia Gandhi. The deliberations were attended by TMC, DMK, NCP, Shiv Sena, JMM, CPI, CPM, RJD, JD(S), RLD, NC and PDP, among others. The move is a clear bid to translate the coordination established at the leadership level in recent months and cemented during the just-concluded Parliament session, into a grassroots alliance.
Unity is not enough: Rahul
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said “opposition unity” was not enough and the alliance needed to present an “alternative vision” of what it stands for since the vision offered by the RSS-BJP is being liked by people. While CPM's Sitaram Yechury said "the opposition is united by the Constitution of India", Rahul argued it needed to be fleshed out in people’s language that they could relate to and understand why it was important for the country.
For the fledgling axis, the planned protests require Trinamool Congress and Left coming together in West Bengal, Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka, SP, RLD and Congress in UP - an early test to the experiment being put in motion. The deliberations among things, emphasised unity in a joint statement issued after the meeting. Sonia noted that the Parliament session exhibited cohesion among parties, which will be sustained in future.
The alliance said SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had sent a letter saying he could not attend the meeting because he was travelling, but expressed his agreement with the statement issued. The tricky subject of leadership of the opposition also came up for mention. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said the opposition should not dwell on the leadership issue and that "people will lead". She said all anti-BJP parties should be roped in, including those which are at odds with Congress. "Fight is against BJP. Let us set up a core group and work together," she said, in what appeared an allusion to outfits like BJD, TRS, AAP and YSRCP. "Let us keep our personal interests aside,” she remarked.