New Delhi: The INDIA bloc leaders managed to put up a show of opposition unity on Sunday at Delhi’s iconic Ramlila Maidan as they alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to "fix" the ensuing national elections through unfair means and urged the voters to save democracy in the country.
The INDIA bloc leaders linked the recent arrest of two chief ministers, AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and JMM’s Hemant Soren in Jharkhand, as well as the blocking of the Congress party’s bank accounts just ahead of the national polls with the PM’s alleged attempt to rig the elections.
“PM Modi is trying to fix the Lok Sabha polls. The arrest of two chief ministers, the sealing of our bank accounts, the appointment of two Election Commissioners and the attempts to pressure the judiciary are strong indicators of this,” former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said.
“The PM claims the BJP will cross 400/543 seats this time. But without rigging the polls, they will not cross even 180 seats. The match fixing is being done by the PM and a few rich persons as they want to change the Constitution. You can save the Constitution through your vote,” he said. Though the INDIA alliance has been facing some issues recently over seat-sharing, the Sunday rally saw affirmative comments from the leaders.
“We fight with the AAP in Punjab but we are all united save the Constitution,” Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said. “We were, we are and we will remain a part of the INDIA bloc,” said TMC’s Derk O'Brien as he slammed the Centre. The Congress has a pact with AAP in Delhi, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana but not in Punjab. In West Bengal, the Congress pact with TMC is unlikely.
Rahul’s allies in Bihar RJD’s Tejaswi Yadav and in Uttar Pradesh SP’s Akhilesh Yadav too expressed similar views as they questioned the BJP’s claim of 400 seats and said that “there was a strong undercurrent against the BJP across the country.”
“If the BJP was so confident of winning, what was the need to put two opposition chief ministers in jail just ahead of the polls. Why block Congress’ bank accounts. You can try anything but we are not afraid of going to jail. We will continue to raise the voice of the people who are suffering from joblessness and price rise,” said Tejaswi Yadav.
Akhilesh Yadav referred to BJP’s UP sweep in 2014 and said, “They will actually lose 400 seats this time. People of the state are known to accord a grand welcome but also give a great farewell. This time, the BJP will be defeated not only in UP but across the country.” Both Bihar and UP send 120 members to the Lok Sabha and the INDIA bloc is expected to challenge the BJP in the two big states.
The two Congress allies in Maharashtra NCP SP group chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray too urged the voters to “defeat the BJP and save democracy in the country.” While CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury stressed on the need for the 1974 JP movement type of mobilization among the people, CPI-ML’s Dipankar Bhattacharya expressed concern over “centralization of power in the BJP.”
DMK’s Tiruchi Siva read out the message of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin who wholeheartedly supported the opposition bloc. “Putting opposition leaders in jail just before the elections shows attempts to rig the polls. The same happened to the J&K leaders. This is the most corrupt government and we are here to save the Constitution,” PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, a former BJP ally, said.
The Delhi rally was the third show of strength by the opposition bloc since the March 3 rally in Patna and the March 17 rally in Mumbai.
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