Congress’ hopes of leading a united opposition for the 2024 general elections appear to be vanishing fast as key opposition parties have started to drift away from it.
After Trinamool Congress (TMC) made their intentions clear, it seems even the Samajwadi Party (SP) is also moving away from any Congress-led effort while propagating the need for regional powers to rise.
“At present, the regional parties and a few other parties are making an attempt to form a third front,” SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said in Kolkata. Yadav was in Kolkata to attend the two-day SP national executive meeting.
“Mamataji (West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee) is trying, CM of Telangana (K Chandrasekhar Rao) is trying, CM of Bihar (Nitish Kumar) is trying. Everyone is trying to form a third front,” Yadav said.
On Congress, Yadav said, “As far as Congress is concerned, it should decide its role because Congress is a national party and we are regional parties.”
The former Uttar Pradesh Chief minister was in the West Bengal capital to meet CM Mamata Banerjee’s rising speculations about the formation of a third front.
Although the visit was termed a courtesy meeting between the two powerful opposition leaders, sources told The New Indian that the two leaders discussed strategies for the upcoming 2024 general elections.
Sources also said that apart from issues related to the 2024 general elections, they discussed the centre’s approach for non-BJP-ruled states. They also discussed the centre’s treatment of opposition parties.
SP chief Yadav also expressed confidence that they will be able to stop from winning the election for the third time in a row. “If Congress is now finished, the BJP too will face a similar fate,” he added.
Criticising the central government’s alleged misuse of central agencies, Yadav said, “When Congress was in power, they used to misuse the agencies. The same is being done by the BJP.”
“There is a vaccine that the BJP uses: whoever joins the party does not face any charges either by the ED, CBI or income tax department. Whereas the parties in opposition are falsely charged in false cases,” Yadav said.