JOIN USBJP wants 'Opposition-free' India, claims Trinamool Congress
The Trinamool Congress has alleged that the BJP has moved on from its original stand of making India "Congress-free" and now intends to make the country "free of any Opposition".
Senior party leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, while addressing the press on a different issue on Friday, claimed that the BJP’s political intentions are now different from ones it had in 2014. Ray stated that the manner in which the Naredndra Modi government has been stifling the voices of the Opposition since 2014 clearly indicates that he wishes to make India free of any Opposition. “Initially they wanted to make the country free from Congress. Now, they are trying to get rid of the entire Opposition,” he observed.
Ray further alleged that anybody who opposes the BJP - a journalist, an activist, or a teacher - is targeted as ‘anti-national’. "The voice of dissent has a place in democracy. The BJP, however, is on its way towards establishing a ‘single-party rule’ in the country," he said.
Over the last many months, the party had attempted at offering an alternative to a Congress-led Opposition. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee was actively seen interacting with parties in the Opposition last year. The party has maintained that the Congress has lost its ability to lead a fight against the BJP.
The Congress now has two clear political competitors, while the TMC itself doesn’t see Congress as the leading party in the opponents’ space.
On the other hand, Ray's claim that the BJP intends to establish a single-party rule tightens political space not only for the Congress, but for the Trinamool and other parties too.
With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections taken into account, a divided opposition – as it appears now – is likely to be in the BJP’s favour. To offer a fight, political observers feel the two major parties in the Opposition need to be more adjusting to the current political situation.