Kolkata: The meeting of the representatives of eight non-BJP parties at Sharad Pawar’s residence, which many says was initiated by poll strategist Prashant Kishore, was attended by Trinamool Congress among others. But, is a non-BJP block or Morcha viable without Congress or is it a precursor to a non-BJP, non-Congress alliance?
Prashant Kishore, himself, feels that minus Congress, no anti-BJP platform is enough for countering the saffron camp. The political analysts too feel so. According to renowned political scientist and the former principal of erstwhile Presidency College, Dr Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay it is too early to predict any anti-BJP platform right at this moment since there is a lot of time left before the 2023 Lok Sabha elections.
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“The regional parties have their own compulsion and hence they want to start the process from now only. But again how far the regional parties can ignore their regional compulsions and put up a united fight against BJP at the national level is the biggest question now,” he said.
He also said that for example in West Bengal it will never be possible that CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress will forget their differences and get united in fighting against BJP. “Secondly, many leaders of any regional parties dream of projecting themselves as the Prime Minister. There lies the question of the feasibility of a united front of regional parties,” he added.
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In the case of all previous alliances, bigger national parties like earlier Jansangh or Congress either led the alliance or supported the alliance from outside. “Hence without Congress, it is difficult for any non-BJP alliance to achieve the goal,” he said.
Former Registrar of Calcutta University, Raja Gopal Dhar Chowdhury said that Prashant Kishore was right in his judgement that to give any anti-BJP platform a concrete shape the Congress should be a part of it. “The regional parties will never be able to field candidates nationally on their own. Secondly, pre-poll understandings often change in the post-poll scenario. So a national force like Congress is a must for any anti-BJP alliance,” he said.
According to Congress MP and state Congress president in West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, he is not interested to speak on the initiative taken by other parties. “Prashant Kishore is not a policymaker for Congress. So I have nothing to say,“ he said. However, senior Congress leaders feel that without Congress no anti-BJP platform will mature.
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