With the NDA moving swiftly to form government at the centre on Wednesday, the INDIA bloc, far short of majority numbers in Lok Sabha, has decided to sit in opposition and wait for “appropriate time” to take “appropriate steps” to “realise the people’s desire not to be ruled by the BJP’s government”.
The Congress led-INDIA bloc, however, believes that the BJP-lead NDA alliance is fragile given the past track record of its two crucial partners — Janata Dal United (JDU) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), said a coalition party source. Over a period of time, both the parties have sided with different political coalitions to suit their immediate interests. Among the two, JDU supremo Nitish Kumar is infamous for his his several u-turns in his political career to remain Bihar Chief Minister.
After two-hour meeting at his residence, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge read out a joint statement, “...The INDIA bloc will continue will fight against the fascist rule of the BJP led by PM Modi. We will take the appropriate steps at the appropriate time to realise the people’s desire not to be ruled by the BJP’s govt...”
INDIA block also said, “The people’s mandate has given a befitting reply to the BJP and their politics of hate, corruption and deprivation. This is a political and moral defeat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
Reiterating what Congress leaders especially Rahul Gandhi has been saying through out the election campaign, the joint statement observed, “This is a mandate in defense of the Constitution of India and against price rise, unemployment and crony capitalism of the Modi Government.”
The constituents of the India bloc also thanked the people of India for the overwhelming support received from the people across the country.
The opposition INDIA bloc, an alliance of around 27 parties, won a total of 232 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. While the Congress managed 99 seats, the SP emerged victorious on 37 seats from just 5 constituencies it won in Uttar Pradesh in 2019 polls. Likewise, the TMC improved its last time’s tally to corner 29 seats in West Bengal, and the DMK got 22 seats. In Maharashtra, the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP got 8 seats and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena won 9 seats. In Bihar, the RJD trounced opposition in 4 constituencies, while CPI(M) also cornered four seats in different states and the AAP and JMM managed to win 3 each respectively.
Almost all 27 INDIA bloc leaders were present at the meeting held at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence. Those included Congress leaders present were Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka Gandhi, and KC Venugopal; DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin; Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Ram Goal Yadav from Samajwadi Party; RJD’s Tejaswi Yadav; JMM leaders Champai Soren and Kalpana Soren; former Union Minister Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule from the NCP Sharad Pawar faction; AAP’ Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha, and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
It’s was a pre-decided meeting to take stock of the elections and INDIA’s performance and how to move ahead.