In a big blow to the ‘mahagatbandhan’ (grand-alliance), the recent media reports claim that the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, Mayawati has dropped the idea of attending the all-party meet.
The all-party meeting is scheduled for 10th December, a day before the announcement of the crucial Assembly polls in five states. The all-party meet is an attempt to showcase the might of anti-BJP forces ahead of 2019 assembly elections. This coming together of all parties on a single platform can be seen in order to strategize for the winter session, wherein two important private member bills are to be introduced by Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha and Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tiwari, both on the construction of Ram Mandir Temple in Ayodhya.
Talking about Mayawati, Chandra Mishra a senior Congress leader while interacting with media persons said that there is no confirmation from Mayawati whether she will turn up for the event or not. In the past two months, Mayawati has shown her disagreement with the Congress party, which is also spearheading the grand-alliance, by not joining hands with them for contesting elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan.
In Chhattisgarh, Mayawati joined hands with Ajit Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh, wherein BSP is contesting on 35 seats and JCC on 55 seats. In her statement she said, ‘’Congress wants to eliminate the identity of the BSP. Congress is a racist party. The Congress party’s rope is burnt, but the force hasn’t been lost. Congress has not taken any lesson from Gujarat.”
Aftermath, of this she also parted her ways from Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan blaming the eternal motor mouth Digvijay Singh for her decision. She didn’t stop here as she added much to Congress worry saying that ‘teaming up for 2019 is not an option’.
The all-party meet is being organized by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu who portrays himself as being the ‘facilitator’ of this alliance.
A month ago Naidu met Congress President Rahul Gandhi and further formed an alliance his (Rahul Gandhi’s) party with the prime objective of dismantling the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Met with @INCIndia President, @RahulGandhi ji today. pic.twitter.com/VFxeDjkbFv
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) November 1, 2018
Mr. Naidu while giving a joint-press statement with Rahul Gandhi said, “We have to save the nation, our democracy. We discussed with Rahulji. We agree in principle. It is a democratic compulsion. We want to organize everybody, have a common platform.”
The question now is that how far the ‘mahagatbandhan’ is going to survive since BSP which was a key element is not showing up for the grand-alliance. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav is also said to attend the meeting but him turning up also seems to be hazy given the fact that he opted out from the joining the hands with Congress in Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
Akhilesh even lashed out at the Congress party and the party president Rahul Gandhi while addressing a rally he said, “Whatever the Congress Party has done is good. They think that they have a bigger party in democracy and we aren’t anything. This at least paved a way for us to form a new party. Congress party thinks that we cannot do anything without them. The country needs third option.”
It was also evident in the swearing-in ceremony of H D Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister of Karnataka that Mamta Banerjee was upset and furious by the presence of Gandhi’s as she left the ceremony saying, ‘I am leaving. Sorry for leaving.’ The desperate moves by different regional parties go on to showcase that the grand-alliance is nothing but a vague coalition that will fail to damage the prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2019 General Assembly Elections.
