Decision on joint Oppn should be taken soon: Salman Khurshid

A united opposition needs to decide about its leadership ‘sooner than later’ based on ‘ground realities’ to fight the BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections, says senior Congress leader and former minister Salman Khurshid.

He also strongly favours a pre-poll arrangement between all opposition parties as he feels that post-elections it “becomes more of a number game and encourages horse-trading”.

“I prefer that there is an arrangement before the elections,” Khurshid, a former external affairs minister in the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, told IANS in an interview.

He said that issue of leadership would be decided at an appropriate time without falling ‘prey’ to the BJP trying to create fissures and confusion in the joint opposition camp.

“For each one of us, our leader is important. But the fact is also that the Congress is the leading party. The leading party, however, is not the only party. You may be the first amongst equals.”

“You may have the possibility or the potential of being the largest party. But what should be done in such circumstances? That is for the leaders to decide, instead of us speaking out of turn and making their job more difficult... but sooner than later they will have to decide."

“Waiting for five years might put things in such a way that you will not have a chance at all. If there is a consensus of coalition today, we should go for a coalition. This I think is the rational and sensible view.”

Asked if the Congress was ready to be flexible and play second fiddle if needed and let a leader from a smaller party be in the driver's seat, he said it was “a wrong way of looking at it”.

“We should be sensible. When I say 'we' it is all parties. And all parties should be objective, conscious of ground realities and possibilities and conscious of the experience that we all have.”