How Rahul Gandhi broke a united opposition in one day

The opposition is miffed with Rahul Gandhi for meeting the PM by himself and also fixing an appointment with President of India, Pranab Mukherjee in his name.

New Delhi, Dec 17: For the opposition parties it was an anti climax. The opposition which stood united while protesting the decision on demonetisation also ensured that all official business during the winter session of Parliament was disrupted. The coordination opposition which stood united all these days broke after Rahul Gandhi met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

The opposition is miffed with Rahul Gandhi for meeting the PM by himself and also fixing an appointment with President of India, Pranab Mukherjee in his name. The coordinated opposition had decided that there would be no leader and all would protest under one umbrella. However this last minute move by Rahul Gandhi has changed all that.

How Rahul Gandhi broke the opposition?
It was decided by all opposition leaders that they would meet with the PM over the farmers's issue. The BSP and the SP were meant to be part of that meeting, but were taken aback when Rahul Gandhi decided to go by himself. The actual reason behind this sudden change of decision by Rahul Gandhi and other leaders of the Congress is still unknown.

Most of the Congress leaders that OneIndia spoke with did not give out any clarity as to why such a call was taken. One leader said that the famers's issue was an important one and hence they decided to meet with the PM. This leader however could not explain why they went ahead with the meeting without the rest of the opposition leaders.

During the meeting with the Prime Minister, Mallikarjuna Kharge, senior Congress leader said, " we can cooperate and shake hands on issues even if our hearts do not meet." The Prime Minister is reported to have said, " we should meet like this." The Congress handed out a memorandum in which the plight of the farmers due to drought had been highlighted. Rahul Gandhi even delayed his Goa flight in order to facilitate this meeting.

What the rest of the opposition cannot understand is why Rahul Gandhi fixed this meeting by himself without even informing the others. The opposition had backed Rahul Gandhi when he said that he would like to highlight in Parliament charges of personal corruption by Modi. None are able to understand what changed so suddenly. Some within the opposition are questioning whether the meeting was just about the farmers' issue or was there something more to it.

OneIndia News