Behind the bonhomie: What they really said
The gathering of the Opposition leaders at the swearing-in ceremony of the JD(S)-Congress government in Bengaluru on Wednesday quickly turned into a platform to discuss plans for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Across the political spectrum in the non-BJP camp, the broad agreement is to focus on pre-poll, state-specific pacts and strategies against the BJP as a precursor to a post-poll national alliance.
“We spoke about how Karnataka has shown a way to tackle the BJP. We have to fight collectively. Wherever one party is strong, others must rally around it,” West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said over phone on Thursday.
The contours of a federal front seem to be changing after the formation of the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka.
Banerjee, who is busy roping in regional satraps for a perceived non-Congress, non-BJP club, made it clear that the Congress must also play its role in the
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federal front. “I have never said Congress has no space in the federal front. There are areas where the Congress is powerful. They should take the lead in those areas to defeat the BJP,” she said.
Even as the Congress is in power in just three states and one union territory, it is a principal opposition powerhouse in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Kerala.
Leaders also pointed out how the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came together in Uttar Pradesh to defeat the BJP in the by-elections for the two Lok Sabha seats in March this year.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and BSP chief Mayawati hugged each other at the swearing-in ceremony, depicting the Opposition bonhomie ahead of the Kairana by-election. And at one moment, Gandhi asked someone to make way for Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Chaudhary Ajit Singh.