Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 16: Within hours after the Congress made its stand clear on the Delhi ordinance deciding to stand with the Aam Aadmi Party to oppose the measure in Parliament, the AAP announced its decision to attend the opposite conclave in Bengaluru from Monday to decide on a united strategy to fight against the BJP in the national election next year.
The AAP confirmed its Bengaluru attendance on Sunday after a meeting of the party’s Political Affairs Committee. “Today, the Congress party has also cleared its stand against the Ordinance of Delhi and has announced to register its protest. We welcome this announcement of the Congress party. With this, I would like to say that the Aam Aadmi Party will participate in the meeting of opposition parties to be held in Bangalore on July 17-18,” AAP’s Raghav Chadha announced after the party’s internal meeting.
“The AAP’s political affairs committee meeting was held today. Every aspect was discussed in detail and after the meeting was over, I can clearly say this – the ordinance is clearly anti-national,” Chadha said. “From Trinamool Congress to the RJD, JD(U), NCP, Samajwadi Party, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, all have raised their voice against this anti-national ordinance. We will make every possible effort to defeat it,” he said.
Following the first opposition conclave in Bihar’s capital Patna on June 23 – a meet-and-greet for the country’s splintered opposition parties to try and rally together against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP in next year’s national election – the AAP had sharply criticised the Congress.
After a marathon outreach by Delhi Chief Minister and AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal, nearly all opposition parties, except the Congress, had pledged to help his party block the move in parliament. The Congress decision to back the AAP’s move against the Centre’s executive order on Delhi bureaucrats is attributed to the behind-the-scenes work by two top opposition leaders, the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar — who volunteered to bring the opposition under the same umbrella, and the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who lent her weight to the issue at a critical juncture.
The Congress has been on the fence on the Ordinance after sharp opposition from its Delhi leaders, including Ajay Maken. But Arvind Kejriwal’s party made it clear that a “yes” from Congress about joining the battle in parliament was a pre-condition for its attendance in the next opposition meet in Patna.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had made it clear that his party is still mulling the issue and will make its stance clear – eventually. But with days to go for the beginning of the monsoon session, AAP signalled that it would not budge without a clear statement from the Congress.
When Kharge dialled the AAP chief to invite him for the July 17 Opposition meet in Bengaluru, which is being hosted by the Congress, Kejriwal remained non-committal, sources said. That was the cue for entry of Kumar and Ms Banerjee, who explained to the Congress leadership that unless they clarified their stance, the opposition wall will end up with a Delhi-Punjab sized hole.
The Congress agreed, but there was a last-minute hiccup: The arrest of a senior leader of the Party in AAP-ruled Punjab by the Bhagwant Mann government in a corruption case. Former Punjab Minister OP Soni’s arrest came amid the anti-corruption campaign launched by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
On Saturday the Congress leadership met again and decided they would not support the Ordinance. But this was not communicated by Jairam Ramesh, the party’s communication in-charge. As AAP dug in its heels, Mamata Banerjee frantically dialled Kharge, sources said.
With the AAP deciding to attend the opposition conclave in Bengaluru, the country next week is set to witness a high voltage political showdown, with the ruling NDA and Opposition parties both flexing numbers ahead of next year’s general elections. While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has announced a mega meet in New Delhi on Tuesday, expecting nearly 30 parties to reiterate support to the alliance, 24 Opposition parties will also meet in Bengaluru on Monday and Tuesday to iron out their differences and project a united front against the BJP ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament which starts on July 20.
The NDA meeting will be chaired by BJP President JP Nadda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Other than their alliance partners, the BJP has also invited several new allies and some former ones to the meet, which will take place at Delhi’s Ashok Hotel on Tuesday evening. Not all parties in the NDA have a presence in the Parliament.
Four leaders from Bihar — Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Jitan Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha, Upendra Singh Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, and Mukesh Sahani of the Vikassheel Insaan Party — have been invited, and their parties will be included in the NDA.
Former Akhilesh Yadav ally Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, earlier today announced re-joining the NDA, and Dara Singh Chauhan, Samajwadi Party MLA from Ghosi in Mau district, yesterday resigned from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and joined the BJP after meeting Home Minister Amit Shah.
N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party and the Badal family-helmed Shiromani Akali Dal, even after much speculation, will not be part of the NDA. Sources say the BJP will not ally with these parties. It plans to go solo in Punjab and ally with Pawan Kalyan’s JanaSena Party in Andhra Pradesh.
NDA currently boasts 24 parties — BJP, AIADMK, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), NPP (National People’s Party), NDPP (Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party), SKM (Sikkim Krantikari Morcha), JJP (Jannayak Janta Party), IMKMK (Indiya Makkal Kalvi Munnetra Kazhgam), AJSU (All Jharkhand Students Union), RPI (Republican Party of India), MNF (Mizo National Front), TMC (Tamil Manila Congress), IPFT (Tripura), BPP (Bodo People’s party), PMK (Patali Makkal Kacchi), MGP (Mahasthravadi Gomantak Party), Apna Dal, AGP (Assam Gana Parishad), Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, Nishad Party, UPPL (United People’s Party Liberal), AIRNC (All India NR Congress Pudduchery), Shiromani Akali Dal Sayunkt (Dhindhsa), and JanaSena (Pawan Kalyan).
NCP (Nationalist Congress Party Ajit Pawar faction), Lok Jan Shakti Party (Ram Vilas), HAM (Hindustani Awam Morcha), RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party), VIP (Vikassheel Insaan Party), and SBSP (Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party Om Prakash Rajbhar) will be the new entrants to the ruling alliance.