India News | Opposition Parties May Have Differences but United Against BJP-RSS Ideology: Rahul Gandhi
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Opposition parties may have differences but they will stand united and fight the ideology of the RSS and the BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on Sunday, a day before his Bharat Jodo Yatra culminates with a rally where several Opposition parties have been invited.
Srinagar, Jan 29 (PTI) Opposition parties may have differences but they will stand united and fight the ideology of the RSS and the BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on Sunday, a day before his Bharat Jodo Yatra culminates with a rally where several Opposition parties have been invited.
Addressing a press conference here, his 13th during the 135-day yatra, Gandhi said the Opposition unity comes from dialogue and vision.
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Asked if the Opposition unity was in a disarray in the country, he said it is not correct to say that the Opposition is fragmented.
"The opposition unity comes after a conversation and a vision. To say that Opposition is divided is not right. It is true that there are differences in the Opposition, but the Opposition will fight unitedly, will stand together as it is an ideological fight. On one side is the BJP-RSS and on the other side there are non-RSS-BJP forces," Gandhi said.
His remarks come a day before a rally of the Congress at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium here, marking the culmination of the yatra. Over 20 opposition parties have been invited to the rally.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had extended invitations to the presidents of parties including the TMC, JD(U), Shiv Sena, TDP, National Conference, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, CPI, CPI(M), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Rashtriya Janata Dal, PDP, NCP, DMK, RLD, IUML, RSP and JD(S).
Some party leaders have expressed their inability to be present at the rally while some would send their representatives.
While parties such as NC, PDP, CPI, CPI(M), Shiv Sena and DMK are likely to have a presence at the rally, there is uncertainty over participation from parties such as the SP, BSP and TMC.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday the Congress' rally in Kashmir on January 30 is "not a coalition building exercise" or to build a platform for the 2024 general elections.
Asked if parties such as the SP, BSP and Trinamool Congress not attending the event would be a setback, he had said "No, absolutely not."
"I believe somebody from the BSP is coming. I am not entirely sure. But, I do not see the absence of anybody who has been invited as a setback. They may have other preoccupations," Ramesh had said.
"The JD(U) president is in Nagaland on an election campaign. (JD(S) president) H D Deve Gowda has written to Rahul Gandhi, expressing full support and appreciation for the yatra, but expressed his inability to come personally. So, I do not see this as a setback," he said.
Ramesh said as a courtesy an invite was extended to the parties to take part in the event.
On Monday, Congress president Kharge will unfurl the national flag at the Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters and will unveil a memorial for the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The rally would take place after that.
Responding to another question at the presser, Gandhi also said yatra may have traversed the country from South to North but its impact is countrywide.
"The BJP and RSS are attacking the institutional framework of this country. Whether it is Parliament, assemblies, judiciaries, media. All institutions are being attacked and captured by the BJP. What you have seen in different parts of the country and Jammu and Kashmir are the result of that assault on the institutional framework," he said.
Summing up the yatra, which will culminate on Monday with the tricolour being hoisting at the Congress office here, Gandhi said this march is no longer a Congress show but has become a movement for the aam janta (common people).
He said the Bharat Jodo Yatra envisages to provide to people an alternative vision of brotherhood to BJP and RSS' "politics of hate and arrogance".
"This yatra has given an alternative to the people of this country. On one side is the vision to crush others while ours is the vision of embracing and taking people together," he said.
He said the march will have a tremendous effect on the politics of this country. "I cannot tell what exactly will be the effect but I can tell that this yatra is not over. It is a first step towards a new beginning," he said.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)