Underscoring its allegiance to the issue, Congress announced on Sunday that next week’s Raipur plenary session would discuss the policy and its notions on building a united bloc, as it emerged that Kumar’s public remark on a multi-party platform at Patna has granted a pan-political immediacy to what was an obvious agenda item of the AICC brainstorming jamboree once every five years.
Despite Nitish Kumar’s call for major opposition unity, Congress leaders remain vague
But while a powerful group of Congress General Secretaries KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Tariq Anwar and Kumari Selja wholeheartedly welcomed Nitish’s suggestion at a press conference, the party also blasted him saying, ‘No one it needs to give a certificate to Congress that it must take the lead in opposition unity, as we know that any opposition platform without Congress will not succeed. Without Congress, strong opposition unity is impossible.”
On the sensitive subject closely watched by political players, Congressional reciprocity to Kumar came with subtle banter. The party’s emphasis on its efforts to rally unity through parliamentary strategy on Adani quarrel and Bharat Jodo Yatra seemed aimed at the CM of Bihar. Not only has Kumar’s party stayed away from the National Yatra joined by many other partners for four months, but the JD(U) seems to be vibrating with the Congress-allergic Trinamool Congress at leadership level.
Unite opposition main goal of Congress says KC Venugopal before the plenary session of Congress
In what was an unnamed attack on the TMC, Ramesh warned against “two-faced parties” who “attend parliamentary strategic meetings in Mallikarjun Kharge, but take actions that favor the BJP…these parties have not accepted the request for a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) investigation into Adani and supported an SC inquiry, which was a political step to provide an escape hatch for the Prime Minister”.
While the Congress seemed uneasy that Kumar’s remark suggested that the party was unaware of its responsibility to forge a partnership to confront the Modi-led BJP in 2024, there was evident joy that the satrap of Bihar had accepted, willy-nilly, the criticality of Congress to the opposition camp, which has met resistance from regional players such as BRS, TMC, AAP, SP, BSP and even sections of CPM.