While leaders across the political spectrum hailed the coming together of Opposition parties at the Kolkata rally as historic, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda sounded a note of caution.
“The main task is how we should move forward. I have heard the speech of all senior leaders and the present Chief Ministers. Time is very short, hardly two months in there. I think notification is going to be announced by Election Commission on March 1,” Mr. Gowda said. The former Prime Minister, who spoke about his experience of running the country, said the media will always ask the “pertinent question who [is going to be there] after Modi.” He opined that the Opposition will have to be ready with a convincing answer. Sharing of seats between Opposition parties is going to be the biggest challenge, he said.
“My bitter experience is that seat sharing in States is not so easy. Every State has two or three political parties and seat sharing is going to be a Herculean task,” he said. Mr. Gowda said it was important to understand what the younger generation wants and to use social media to reach out to them.
The JD(S) leader said senior leader of the Opposition should come together to prepare a manifesto on “how best we are going to govern.”
Mr. Gowda suggested that the committee should have leaders like Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and former Union Minister Arun Shourie. The veteran leader emphasised that the leaders present at the gathering needed to create confidence among the people that they were going to give good and stable governance. “People want a new government. A stable government is needed to build a strong nation. After getting 282 seats in the 2014 elections [Narendra Modi] instead of building a strong nation, wants to destroy the secular fabric of the country and constitutional institutions,” he said.
Modi facing sure defeat, says Stalin
DMK president M.K. Stalin said that a few months ago, Mr. Modi used to say he had no Opposition. “Since we have come together, he is feeling scared and now he feels that he is facing a sure defeat,” he said. Warning that if Narendra Modi returns to power, the country will go back by 50 years, Mr. Stalin spoke of corruption in the Rafale deal and failure to keep the promise to return black money.
The initial part of Mr. Stalin’s speech in Bengali, praising Mamata Banerjee for bringing the Opposition together, got huge applause from the crowd. Later, he switched to Tamil and his speech was translated into Bengali. PTI adds:
Mamata a role model for women: Kumaraswamy
Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said that in 70 years, the country had seen the emergence of strong regional parties that have played important roles to protect the interest of their own States and understanding the emotions of their own people.
“India is one of the strongest democracies in the world. But today we are witnessing a day where the democratic government [at the Centre] is headed by some undemocratic persons,” he said.
Late DMK president Karunanidhi had done a lot to protect the interest of Tamil Nadu. In Uttar Pradesh, the SP and the BSP are doing a great job. Mr. N Chandrababu Naidu has done a lot for Andhra Pradesh. Mamata Banerjee was a role model for the women of the country. She had empowered women of West Bengal, he said.
Demonetisation had taken a toll on the poor people of the country and those in the rural areas were the most affected. “It is unfortunate that the Union government has turned deaf and mute to people's needs,” he said.
The Union government gave incentives, tax rebates and subsidies to industries, but farmers were treated differently. The BJP talked about fight against corruption at its national executive and on the same day it resorted to horse trading in Karnataka, revealing the party’s double standards, he added.
