Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 1: The India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) at its meeting in Mumbai, the third of the joint opposition alliance, on Friday was forced to drop adopting a political resolution following some objections to the reference to “caste census” in the draft.
Amid all the bonhomie on display, the Mumbai meeting of the INDIA alliance also saw one of the first major differences emerge between the opposition parties since they decided to band together in June and held two earlier meetings in Patna and Bengaluru in relatively cordial atmosphere.
While an election resolution was adopted at the Mumbai meeting, a political resolution had to be dropped after a disagreement over the inclusion of a demand for a caste census.
Sources close to INDIA said, the Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal pushed for the caste census demand, but the West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was opposed to its inclusion in the resolution.
Interestingly, after the second meeting of the alliance in July, the ‘samuhik sankalp’ (joint resolution) had specifically called for the implementation of the caste census. “We have come together to defeat the hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities; stop the rising crimes against women, Dalits, adivasis and Kashmiri Pandits; demand a fair hearing for all socially, educationally and economically backward communities; and, as a first step, implement the Caste Census,” the parties had said in their resolution passed “in one voice.”
A caste-based survey being conducted by the Bihar government, championed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a move to help the disadvantaged, had been upheld by the Patna High Court last month. The high court had dismissed various petitions challenging the Bihar government’s decision to conduct the caste-based survey and the socio-economic survey in the state. The court’s order had come nearly three months after it had stayed the survey.
The Supreme Court has also refused to interfere and stay the High Court’s order dismissing petitions challenging the Bihar government’s caste census move. Kumar had claimed last week that the decision to hold the caste-based survey was taken unanimously by the leaders of all political parties, including the BJP, in his state.
There were also some uncomfortable moments for some Congress leaders at the meeting when unannounced its former leader and noted lawyer Kapil Sibal appeared at the meeting venue. Sibal, currently an independent MP of Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh with the support of Samajwadi Party, had quit the Congress last year criticising the leadership of the Gandhis.
The Congress leaders at the meeting were miffed after Sibal’s unexpected entry. Sibal was not an official invitee and his presence had upset ex-colleagues. Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal had complained about Sibal’s presence to ex-Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who was among the three leaders hosting the INDIA bloc meeting in Mumbai, before a photo op of opposition leaders.
Other senior leaders – National Conference boss Farooq Abdullah and the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav tried to intervene, persuading Venugopal to accept Sibal’s presence at a meeting that aims at uniting all opposition politicians ahead of next year’s election. Significantly, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said he had no objection to Sibal’s presence, the sources said, and eventually he was made part of the photo session.
A 20-second video on social media showed Nationalist Congress Party Working President Supriya Sule warmly welcoming Sibal. In other visuals from the meeting, Sibal is also seen talking to Punjab Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Mann.
