Opposition, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Telugu Desman Party leader (TDP) and Andhra Pradesh (AP) Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and others on Saturday vowed to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 general elections.
A day after the failure of the no-trust motion in the Lok Sabha by a heavy margin exposed chinks in the armour of the Opposition, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Telugu Desman Party leader (TDP) and Andhra Pradesh (AP) Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and others on Saturday vowed to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 general elections.
Banerjee announced the launching of a nationwide "remove BJP, save country" campaign on August 15 that will culminate into a mega rally on January 19. The rally is likely to be attended by a cross-section of Opposition leaders to evolve a joint strategy. She is working on a plan to select seats all over the country where parties will join hands for a "one-to-one" fight against the BJP.
Continuing with his "hug" moments, which stopped short of becoming a great political moment due to a wicked "wink", Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said he has shown the mirror of love and compassion to PM Modi and has given the country a new political discourse that can bind it together. "The point of yesterday's debate in Parliament.. PM uses Hate, Fear and Anger in the hearts of some of our people to build his narrative. We are going to prove that Love and Compassion in the hearts of all Indians, is the only way to build a nation (sic)," he said in a post on Twitter.
Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu, who was in the Capital, launched the most scathing attack on the PM -- his former ally. He called the PM "petty" for comparing him with YS Rajasekhara Reddy in his speech at the Parliament on Friday. Speaking on the 2019 general elections, Naidu also said that he would "play a role in national politics". "Prime Minister didn't reply properly nor did he address the problem… He had to rise to the occasion and convince the people (of Andhra Pradesh)… instead, he spent his time conveniently attacking others," Naidu said, adding, "I have been a chief minister longer that he (Narendra Modi) has been. I have seen politics in India for far longer than he has… I created, with my late father-in-law, the National Front. I created the United Front, I supported the NDA, under Vajpayee, and I know politics. I have never suffered like I have this time." TDP's Jayadev Galla had initiated the debate on the no-confidence motion, the first in 15 years against any government, on Friday.
What has also unnerved the Opposition is PM's series of rallies in UP — three in less than a month - which are being interpreted as blowing the election bugle. Both the PM and the BJP president Amit Shah have focussed attacks on the Congress against the backdrop of efforts among Opposition parties to put up a united front. The Congress is in talks with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for an arrangement in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BSP have already defeated the BJP more than once in by-elections. In a calculated move, the PM, while replying to the debate in Lok Sabha, praised Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrashekar Rao for displaying maturity and sagacity in focusing on development in Telangana, instead of continuing to squabble with TDP-led Andhra Pradesh government.
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