Politics of convenience: Congress reaches out to other parties to 'stop BJP'

The Presidential election is currently on the Congress' mind and the party hopes that it can arrive at a consensus with all other opposition parties and field a candidate against the NDA's candidate.

After being dealt blow after blow in every recent election, the Congress is knocking on the doors of other parties. The Grand Old Party wants regional parties and others in opposition to give up their 'anti-Congress' stance and 'concentrate on stopping the Bharatiya Janata Party'. After the party's dismal performance in the Delhi MCD elections, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told regional parties that anti-Congress stance was not the way.

"Hope all regional parties will now realise that blind anti-Congressism is not the way. The country must come first in the battle of ideologies," he said hinting that a joint opposition was the need of the hour to stop the BJP that was surging ahead. Congress' abysmal performance in the Delhi civic polls came just as an addition to the setbacks it has been seeing in most recent elections.

Despite Sonia Gandhi's return as the party's leader, not much has changed for the Congress on the election front. It may be noted that Sonia met leaders of regional parties yet key players like Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the Left's Sitaram Yechury. The Presidential election is currently on the Congress' mind and the party hopes that it can arrive at a consensus with all other opposition parties and field a candidate against the National Democratic Alliance's candidate. The upcoming Presidential election is all set to be the first trial operation of a united opposition.

The BJP's resounding victory in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls came as a jolt to the opposition parties. They claimed that a united opposition was the only way to contain the BJP's winning streak. With successive wins of the BJP, the clamour for a united opposition is only going. The BJP on its part slammed such attempts and stated that alliances that are not formed on the basis of ideologies but to only stop another party were a bane on democracy.

OneIndia News