Terms of Opposition unity changing; Congress to bid time

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, May 23: Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi spent time on Tuesday with truck drivers, riding with them from Murthal in Haryana. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal rushed to call on his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in the company of key ministers.

The Opposition camp is buzzing with activities, outreach among the constituents and also with constituencies, which have been on the margins of the Indian politics. Rahul Gandhi was a patient listener to the eloquent exposition of the current politics by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday when he called on Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge.

The Congress offices in the country are sporting large banners of Rahul Gandhi. They Congress workers have also hit on with a new slogan ‘Loktantra ki aandhi hai, dil mein Rahul Gandhi hai (There is a storm of democracy, and Rahul Gandhi is in the hearts of the people)’.

With the Congress pride gaining the wind in the chest, the regional parties still believe that they can dictate terms to the main Opposition party and take the 200 Lok Sabha seats bait in the next year’s Lok Sabha elections. Sources in the Congress said that the terms of engagements with a section of the regional parties will naturally change after the party gained a massive victory in the Karnataka Assembly election, at a scale seen only in 1989.

“The Congress is now bracing up for the key Assembly elections in October-November this year, and the focus naturally is Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. If the Congress wins three of them, the party will be super charged, and the case will remain the same even if the organization gains two of them,” said a senior Congress functionary.

While the Congress rules Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP is leading the incumbent government in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP organizationally is seen to be in a state of disarray in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where the saffron outfit failed to build the local leadership. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP will be facing an uphill task against the building up of a massive anti-incumbency against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led state government.

“The Congress will certainly take part in deliberations and meetings for the Opposition unity, and the party would work with the like-minded parties in the Monsoon session of Parliament also. But the Congress will look to commit to an arrangement only after the state elections get over latter this year,” added the Congress functionary.