Oppn looks to form strategy to corner BJP
APART FROM SONIA GANDHI, MAMATA BANERJEE , SITARAM YECHURY, MK STALIN, AKHILESH YADAV AND SC MISHRA ARE EXPECTED TO BE PRESENT AT JAN 13 MEETING. IT IS NOT CLEAR IF ANYONE FROM AAP WOULD BE THERE
NEW DELHI: The opposition parties will meet here on January 13 in a bid to formulate a common ground and joint approach to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the wake of the assault on JNU students on Sunday and the protests in Delhi and elsewhere over Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), Opposition leaders said on the condition of anonymity.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury recently had a conversation which was followed by talks between Yechury and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav. Gandhi, on the other
is in touch with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and other parties ahead of the strategy meeting of the Opposition parties next week.
According to two Opposition leaders, there is need to rethink the strategy of the political parties after people from different walks of life have spontaneously hit the streets to oppose the CAA and the NRC. And on Sunday, the attack on JNU students by masked mob proved to be another rallying point for Opposition parties. All Opposition leaders have opposed the violent attacks while some have blamed the ruling BJP for the incident.
Barring one joint petition to the President opposing CAA and NRC, key Opposition parties that have been together on several issues but followed their independent course of action. While Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a sit-in protest at India Gate or West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee led two marches in Kolkata, Yechury addressed students at Jantar
Mantar and led the Left’s own protests.
“Now we see there is a clear pattern. First they attacked Jamia Millia, then AMU and now JNU,” said Yechury at a press conference on Monday. He also said that the “coordination process is on” between different political parties on “JNU and larger issues”.
Opposition leaders said that the first step is to send a joint petition by Opposition MPS to the President to take action in the JNU incident. There will also be some efforts to build opinion against the BJP among JNU alumni.
TMC sent a delegation consisting of senior leaders— Dinesh Trivedi, Sajda Ahmed, Manas Bhunia and Vivek Gupta to show solidarity at JNU and the anti-caa protests in Shahhand, een Bagh on Monday. The delegation also went to JNU, but was stopped at Gate no. 1.
The political course of action is expected to be decided in the meeting on January 13, said the leaders. Apart from Gandhi, Banerjee and Yechury, DMK chief Stalin, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav and BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra are expected to be present while it is not clear if any representative from AAP would be there in the view of the ensuing assembly elections in Delhi, they said.
The last show of unity of the Opposition was seen during the swearing-in ceremony of Hemant Soren in Jharkhand. But the upcoming meeting needs to have substantial value and a common platform instead of another photo-op, feels a section of the Opposition.