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Journalism of Courage
In what may be interpreted as a setback to a national Opposition bid, the JD(U) has said it will not attend the concluding function of the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar on January 30. All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge had invited JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh to attend the function.
“There are no two opinions that there is decline in democratic values in the country and that the constitutional institutions that are supposed to ensure checks and balances on unrestrained executive power are being systematically destroyed. The pace at which the country is fast transforming itself from an electoral democracy to an electoral autocracy, to say the least, is frightening. Much as I would like to be present at the historic event, I regret my inability to do so, as I need to be present at the launching of the party’s election campaign at Wokha in Nagaland the same day,” Singh said in response to Kharge’s invitation.
Singh wished the event success on behalf of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
“I sincerely believe the Bharat Jodo Yatra has also given an opportunity to study, experience and sense the mood and anxieties of the people first-hand, which I am sure will go a long way in helping us formulate joint strategies in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” Singh said. “My party sincerely feels that the need of the hour is a unified Opposition and expects that the Indian National Congress takes appropriate steps in this direction,” he added.
Bihar Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari told The Indian Express: “Our yatra is against the thought process that had divided the country once. The yatra is against those engaged in politics of division. Those who love this country must join our campaign.”
Though the JD(U) wing in UP had welcomed the Bharat Jodo Yatra when it entered the state, the party has largely kept itself away from the yatra. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has often expressed ignorance about the yatra and with Opposition unity yet to shape up, he faces an onerous task ahead to make a national Opposition bid.
