Opposition joins hands asking for Modi146;s head

Leaders of the Janata Dal U, Samata Party, Lok Janashakti and the TDP met today to finalise their strategy for the next few days.

The BJP will thus face the embarrassment of coming under attack from both sides of the House through the week, rendering it virtually friendless on Gujarat.

The Opposition8217;s biggest achievement today was unanimity and Congress president Sonia Gandhi8217;s new found political confidence went a long way in bringing the opposition parties together.

She personally went up to Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Janata Dal leader H D Deve Gowda and others in the Lok Sabha after it was adjourned for the first time to invite them to her room to discuss floor strategy.

It was the first Opposition meeting chaired by Sonia which in itself was a signal of the tough times ahead for Vajpayee8217;s shaky government.

8216;8216;The meeting went off very well. After all, she is the Leader of Opposition,8217;8217; beamed Mulayam Singh later.

The next step would be to rope in Sharad Pawar8217;s NCP into the Opposition attack.

Sonia is believed to have sent feelers to him through her chief whip Priyaranjan Dasmunshi who enjoys a close personal rapport with Pawar. Congress sources said she may telephone him to invite him personally to the next Opposition meeting, the date and time of which are yet to be fixed.

Pawar made it clear today that his party would oppose the BJP on the Gujarat issue. 8216;8216;We want President8217;s Rule to be imposed in Gujarat on grounds of administrative failure,8217;8217; he said.

The Congress strategy is to establish the party8217;s credentials as the foremost secular alternative to the BJP.

This is the reason Sonia has taken the initiative to forget past bitterness and reach out to as many opposition leaders as possible. Once party leaders feel they8217;ve made their point, the Congress may wind down the attack and use other means to force a discussion on Gujarat.

The next two days will see the Opposition mounting an attack outside Parliament as well. From tomorrow, the Congress will begin a relay hunger strike at Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat which will be led by one Working Committee member every day.

Tomorrow, all the Congress MPs will sit on dharna at Raj Ghat for an hour in the morning. Sonia is expected to join them. On Wednesday, the Left parties are holding a rally in the Capital to demand Modi8217;s removal.

There was a feeling of helplessness in BJP circles in the face of such stridency. BJP MPs hardly put up a defence in either House today as its partners indulged in competitive secularism with the Opposition.

BJP leaders consoled themselves with the hope that once they8217;ve let off steam, the allies will settle down and support the Government if the Opposition manages to force a discussion on its ajournment motion.

The Congress made its harshest criticism of the BJP so far by comparing it to Hitler today.

8216;8216;We are not scared of facing polls but the BJP8217;s decision to allow Modi to go for elections in the disturbed atmosphere in Gujarat is a cynical attempt to exploit the charged communal atmosphere. It is similar to the decision Hitler took in 1933 when the atmosphere in Germany was charged after the stage-managed accident at the German Parliament,8217;8217; said spokesman Jaipal Reddy.