A day ahead of the election for the next President, and days to go before that of the Vice-President, Congress president Sonia Gandhi made a strong appeal for the Opposition candidates.
“We must ensure ... that the best minds and the best servants of India stand at the helm. Together, Meira ji , and Gopal Krishna Gandhi ji will give us the best possible President and Vice-President to steer our society through the crisis that has beset our country today,” she said.
Ms. Gandhi was addressing a meeting of the Opposition parties on Sunday that have banded together to vote collectively for Ms. Kumar and Mr. Gandhi in these elections, 17 parties for the first and 18 (including the Janata Dal-United) for the second.
Opposition choice: UPA candidates Meira Kumar and Gopal Krishna Gandhi in New Delhi on Sunday.
The Opposition leaders were introduced to the two candidates, who spoke a few words.
Indeed, though the numbers are stacked against Ms. Kumar and Mr. Gandhi, Opposition leaders across the spectrum have been stressing that the significance of contesting these elections is to demonstrate that there is a political challenge to the Modi government and the BJP-RSS combine, and to help forge Opposition unity ahead of the next general elections.
Tough battle
On Sunday, Ms. Gandhi stressed this aspect in her speech again. “In these contests, the numbers may be against us. But the battle must be fought and fought hard. We cannot and must not let India be hostage to those who wish to impose upon it a narrow-minded, divisive and communal vision,” she said.
“We must stand more aware than ever of who we are, what we fought for in our Independence struggle and what future we want for ourselves. We must have confidence in the values we believe in.”
This election, she continued, “represents a clash of ideas, a conflict of disparate values. The election demands a vote of conscience to preserve the India that the Mahatma and that illustrious generation of freedom fighters, joined by thousands upon thousands of ordinary men and women, fought for.”
