The Opposition INDIA grouping appears to have somewhat pulled itself back from the brink of crisis by clearing the hurdles to tie-ups with the Samajwadi Party and the AAP and almost finalising the seat-sharing deal in Maharashtra, after floundering because of Nitish Kumar’s betrayal and skirmishes with Mamata Banerjee.
Sources said the Congress and the AAP had reached seat-sharing deals not only in Delhi but also in Gujarat, Haryana and Goa and the formal announcement would be made soon.
In Punjab, the Congress and the AAP have tactically decided that a coalition is unnecessary because the BJP will then grab the entire Opposition space even if it is not in a position to win many seats now.
With the announcement of a deal with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, which allows the Congress to contest 17 seats, INDIA partners believe they are in a position to pose a tough challenge to the BJP in the sprawling state that sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha.
A senior Congress leader told The Telegraph: “While the BJP is set to lose heavily in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, we are aiming to push it below the halfway mark (of 272 seats) through our performance in the region from Bihar to Delhi.”
The leader explained: “Among the five states — Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi — we will be able to push the BJP below 272 even if the additional losses elsewhere are not counted. Those who dreamt of killing and burying the INDIA dream need to be very alarmed. We will be prepared for a joint campaign much before the March 3 mega rally in Patna.”
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is expected to join Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Agra on February 24.
While Congress sources confirmed that the deal was done, AAP minister Atishi threw clear hints as she said: “As you all know, the seat-sharing arrangement in INDIA has almost been finalised. As this information spread since last evening, AAP leaders are getting this message that Arvind Kejriwal will be arrested by the CBI if they do not quit the Opposition alliance. The CBI will send a notice under CrPC Section 41A, and both ED and CBI will take him under custody.”
She added: “AAP is being threatened to quit INDIA. I want to tell the BJP — this is democracy. In democracy, any party can strike an alliance at will. If you think AAP can be frightened by such threats, you are mistaken. Put Kejriwal in jail. Every AAP worker will fight and save democracy.”
The ED has sent several summons to Kejriwal over the past few weeks but he has refused to depose, dismissing the summons as illegal. Speculation about his impending arrest has been doing the rounds for quite some time.
The INDIA leaders see this as “desperation” on the Modi government’s part and hope the people will see through the “conspiracies”. Opposition leaders have been saying that such “sinister operations” in Maharashtra and Bihar had failed to derail the INDIA and the BJP would find out the truth in the Lok Sabha elections.
INDIA leaders believe the rising unrest among the farmers and the Supreme Court orders on the Chandigarh mayoral election and the electoral bonds scheme had set off panic in the ruling establishment.
Decrying the “brutal repression” of farmers, the Congress on Thursday demanded an immediate special session of Parliament to discuss their demands.
Alleging that the Haryana government and the BJP were propagating false information about the agitation, Kisan Congress chief Sukhpal Singh Khaira said: “A young farmer was killed in firing. An unarmed youth was shot in the middle of the head. Farmers sat near Delhi the last time for 13 months and the protests were totally peaceful. This time also, the protest is peaceful but the police repression is brutal.”
Khaira added: “Farmers say some people were taken away by Haryana police in bags. Another youth missing since yesterday may have been killed. The government is trying to shut down the information system and ban social media accounts speaking for farmers.... The Prime Minister is silent as if he is not concerned about the farmers.”
