Chennai: At a function to celebrate the 70th birthday of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president and Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin, leaders from different non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties on Wednesday pitched for an opposition alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking on the possible opposition alliance, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that all like-minded opposition parties must unite in the fight against divisive forces but pointed out that in different states, different positions are prevailing. “That’s why we have sacrificed many times in the name of secularism, liberty, freedom of expression. And we have also lost many times,” said Kharge. “We are also trying to unite but in different states, there are different positions. But, in spite of that we have to fight against devise forces and I hope we will succeed.”
“I never said who will lead, who will become the prime minister. Farooq sir, I’m telling you,” Kharge said looking at the National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on the stage. Besides him, Samajwadi Party’ Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejasvi Yadav attended Stalin’s birthday function which had turned into a stage setting the tone for the 2024 general elections. The flags of all the four opposition parties flew alongside a sea of DMK flags at the venue in Chennai.
Last week, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar asked the Congress to set the ball rolling for an opposition alliance, saying that such a conglomerate can limit the BJP to 100 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Congress has not responded to his call so far.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Abdullah, who spoke before Kharge, said that a prime ministerial candidate is not important but taking on the BJP together is.
“We are not saying who will lead or not lead. That’s not the question. We want to fight together, unitedly. That is our desire.” Kharge said.
The event also propped Stalin’s national ambitions. “I hope you serve not only Tamil Nadu but India as a whole,” Abdhullah said. “India is in a difficult situation. Democracy and the Constitution is threatened…I demand from him (Stalin), I am not requesting, I am demanding today that we need to work together. We need to wake up, unite, and build a nation where all of us can live in dignity and peace…Stalin, it is time to move on. Come to the national scene. And build a nation like as you built this state. Nation needs people who work together.”
Then Abdhullah turned to Kharge to express that he saw hope in the youngsters of Srinagar when Rahul Gandhi concluded his Bharat Jodo Yatra there. “Kharge ji I’ll say, who is going to become Prime Minister doesn’t matter. The nation matters. Let’s win elections first and then think of who can be Prime Minister…Let’s put differences aside and unite.”
Deputy chief minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav said that Stalin’s birthday stage is a meeting ground for parties with socialist and social justice background. He said that Bihar had stopped the BJP from doing what they had done in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. “I’ve been appealing for like-minded parties to come together,” said Yadav. “We can defeat them. This is not a big task. We should fight the NDA together.”
He said that at the national level, there is a need for inclusive economic development rather than crony capitalism. Yadav accused the BJP of hijacking constitutional institutions and reiterated his father Lalu Prasad’s remarks that India is facing an undeclared Emergency. “Politics of hollow supremacy can be stopped by the collective will of the people of India,” said Yadav.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav lauded Stalin’s work for promoting social justice and recalled his arrest under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency as his contributions to democracy. “Stalin will rise to national prominence,” he said.
Stalin, the last to speak, in a mix of English and Tamil said that his 70th birthday has transformed into a stage to “strategise” for the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the “start of revolutionary politics in India”. He pointed out that the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance with the Congress won the last four elections only because they were united. “Talks of a third front are pointless,” Stalin said. “I request all opposition parties to understand the electoral arithmetic. Political parties should rise above differences as a unified force to defeat BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.”
