A big meeting was organized on 23 June (Friday) in Bihar’s capital Patna regarding opposition unity. 32 leaders of 15 parties took part in this grand meeting held at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s residence, including Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Uddhav Thackeray, Mamta Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Mehbooba Mufti, MK Stalin, Lalu Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Leaders like Bhagwant Mann and Raghav Chadha attended.
During the joint statement issued after this meeting, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that now the next meeting of the opposition leaders will be held in Shimla on June 12 and there will be a discussion on giving it a final shape. He said that a common agenda will come for contesting the elections. While Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said after the meeting that everyone has come together in the interest of the country. It has been agreed to contest elections together. Those in power are changing history.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said after this meeting that this fight is of ideology. The foundation of India has been attacked. Whereas, Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti said that democracy and the Constitution are under attack. What happened in Kashmir is happening all over the country. So at the same time, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said during the joint statement that leaving mutual differences, we will walk together. We will fight together in the 2024 elections.
Meeting on opposition unity but where is Mayawati
Apart from all these exercises and the big unity meeting of the opposition, the question is constantly being raised that where is BSP supremo Mayawati and what will be her stand regarding the Lok Sabha elections? Just two days before the opposition meeting in Patna on June 23, Mayawati held a meeting with the senior officials of the state, mandal and all the districts. The most important thing about this meeting was that during this she made a strong attack against BJP and Samajwadi Party but remained silent against Congress. This was seen after a long time when she was silent on the Congress and the Congress-ruled states.
The BSP supremo said that due to the activities of the central government, the party is keeping a keen eye on the rapidly changing political situation and the activities of the opposition parties to deal with them. He said that in order to divert attention from the shortcomings, the BJP government is trying to fuel communal and caste disputes to divert attention.
Four parties will have a big role
In fact, even though Mayawati has kept herself away from the meeting held in Patna regarding opposition unity and she was not even invited for that meeting, but in the rapidly changing political situation in the country and in order to save the political ground BSP supremo can leave her stand of Ekla Chalo and come with the alliance.
In conversation with ABP Digital team about Mayawati’s stand Senior columnist Ravi Bhushan It says that mainly four parties of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh will play a big role for opposition unity. These are Nitish Kumar, RJD, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
Ravi Bhushan said that the BSP has not yet joined the opposition unity, but it is being told that it may come. But the sword of ED is hanging over everyone. There is no political party that washes the milk. There are allegations against all, and files have been made with the Centre. This is the current situation.
Stand of ‘Ekla Chalo’ may change
whereas, talking about Rajeev Sachan, Associate Editor, Dainik Jagran This shows that the pathetic condition of Congress in UP is the same condition of BSP. Both have reconciled before and both need each other’s support. In such a situation, it should not be a surprise if there is coordination between BSP and Congress. After the Karnataka elections, Congress is sure that the voters who were cut off from it have come back to them. While Mayawati has bet on Muslim votes many times in UP, sometimes she has got success and sometimes she has not.
SP may suffer a big loss
In such a situation, if there is an agreement between the Congress and the BSP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, they can get political benefit, and the Samajwadi Party can be harmed by it. SP is dependent on Muslim and Yadav votes and would like to retain its voters.
Rajeev Sachan says that in the face of opposition unity, be it Akhilesh or Mamta, he wants Congress to contest elections on 200-250 seats only. Opposition is seeking unity at the cost of Congress, which means Karnataka should make more sacrifices. Whereas Congress will hardly do so after Karnataka elections.
Akhilesh is also thinking on the lines of Mamta Banerjee. Just as Mamta Banerjee is thinking that Congress is weak in Bengal, so she should not think of consolidating her land here, Akhilesh Yadav is keeping the same position in front of Congress that we are with you in UP, but don’t disturb us. One of the major reasons for Mayawati’s weakness is that the Muslim vote drifted away from the BSP to the SP. While Dalit votes and OBC votes are slipping to BJP to an extent. Therefore, BSP also needs to find such a partner party, so that its strongest stronghold in UP can compromise with its conditions.
Congress has nothing to lose in UP
Congress has nothing to lose in Uttar Pradesh today. In such a situation, Congress can accept the conditions of BSP, if with its help it gets 2-3 Lok Sabha seats. The situation is such that at present it is difficult for the Congress to even save the Rae Bareli seat, it has already lost Amethi. Therefore, in the states where the upcoming elections are to be held, BSP has a limited vote bank, in such a situation, there can be an agreement between Congress and BSP. If this alliance is successful, then this alliance can continue in Lok Sabha also.
[नोट- उपरोक्त दिए गए विचार लेखक के व्यक्तिगत विचार हैं. ये जरूरी नहीं कि एबीपी न्यूज़ ग्रुप इससे सहमत हो. इस लेख से जुड़े सभी दावे या आपत्ति के लिए सिर्फ लेखक ही जिम्मेदार है.]
