Congress message to Opposition parties: Let’s work on UPA model, 3rd front will only help BJP

Both Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the political resolution discussed at the AICC plenary session here addressed the question of Opposition unity. The resolution said there is an “urgent need” for a united Opposition to take on the BJP-led NDA on “common ideological grounds”.

But the mention of UPA by Kharge signals the party is not ready to cede leadership role.

“In the prevailing difficult circumstances, Congress is the only party in the country that can provide capable and decisive leadership to the country,” Kharge said in his inaugural speech. “From 2004 to 2014, our alliance with like-minded parties served the people effectively and we once again look forward to forging a viable alternative by aligning with like-minded parties to defeat the anti-people, undemocratic BJP government”.

The resolution stated, “Unity of secular and socialist forces will be the hallmark of the future of the Congress. Congress should go all out to identify, mobilise and align like-minded secular forces. We should include secular regional forces who agree with our ideology. There is an urgent need for a united opposition to take on NDA on common ideological grounds.”

It stated, “Emergence of any third force will provide advantage to the BJP/NDA.”

The party’s stance on the third front is interesting, given that some opposition parties — Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, and KCR’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) among them — are not comfortable with the idea of the Congress leading the anti-BJP grouping.

The BRS, for instance, has already floated the idea of a third front for the national elections.

But many parties like NCP, DMK and JD(U) believe a viable Opposition grouping is not possible without the Congress. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that he is waiting for a signal from the Congress to work towards bringing Opposition parties together.

Kharge said that between 2004 and 2014 several like-minded parties had joined hands with the Congress, which, under the leadership of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, ran a “very successful” government based on a common minimum programme. “Today there is a need to strengthen that alliance more,” he said. “We are ready to work with all those parties who are ready to fight against BJP and the RSS.”

The resolution was scathing in its assessment of the Narendra Modi government and said the Congress will prepare a “Vision Document” for 2024 that would “encompass issues of unemployment, eradication of poverty, inflation, women empowerment, job creation, national security”.

It stated: “During 75 years of independence, India has never witnessed such a disastrous situation as seen during the past eight and half years — of fear, hate, and intimidation. The BJP and its government have sought to demolish the national ethos built upon by those who led the freedom struggle and nurtured by successive governments. Let us remember that the forces which collaborated with British rule and opposed Mahatma Gandhi were responsible for his killing. The inheritors of these forces hold power today…”

Leaders who spoke at the plenary, including Kharge and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, described the Bharat Jodo Yatra as a turning point in Indian politics.

The resolution said the Congress “resolves to liberate the nation from its present agony and darkness, heal the wounds created by these divisive forces, and reinstate stability and peace again”, and argued that “the 4000-km-long Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir was a first significant step in this direction”.