JOIN USWrong to say Opposition is divided, says Rahul on eve of Bharat Jodo Yatra culmination
Top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday sought to downplay senior leaders from non-BJP parties giving a slip to the rally marking the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Yatra here, saying it is wrong to suggest that there is no unity among the Opposition while acknowledging that there are "differences" among them.
Rahul emphasised that all the parties are standing united in the fight against the BJP-RSS, as his around 4,000 km walkathon across the country ended here on Sunday. A formal conclusion will be marked by a rally here for which 23 Opposition parties, excluding AAP, YSR Congress, BJD, BRS and AIUDF, were invited.
However, around half of them, including Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), JD(U) and JD(S) are not sending top leaders for the meet while some may depute second or third-rung leaders.
CPI's D Raja, Muslim League's K Navas Kani and RSP's NK Premachandran, who were present during a dinner hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge here on Sunday night, will attend the rally while top Opposition leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, HD Deve Gowda, Nitish Kumar and Sitaram Yechury will give it a miss but without criticising it.
The absence of top leaders like Yechury, Akhilesh, Nitish and Banerjee will take the sheen out of the rally which was initially billed as a declaration of Opposition unity and a display of common intent to move forward in the direction of a joint fight against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The absence of a section of leaders like Mamata is also seen as their reluctance to accede to a pre-eminent position in the Opposition ranks to Congress and Rahul.
At the 13th press conference during the yatra, Rahul was asked about what he would do to ensure unity among Opposition parties at a time leaders like Mamata are cold-shouldering it.
"On what basis are you saying that the Opposition is divided? Opposition unity comes through negotiations, after talks and an alternative vision. To say it is divided is wrong," he shot back.
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"It is true that there are differences among Opposition and discussions take place but opposition will fight together this battle of ideologies in which on one side there is the BJP and RSS and on the other side are forces opposing them," he added.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said he did not think it was a "setback" that certain leaders are not attending the rally, as they may have other preoccupations. He "made it absolutely clear" that the January 30 rally was "not a coalition building exercise" and that it could "presumably" begin soon.