Though it was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's 70th birthday, what transpired from the stage of DMK in Chennai could give a sigh of relief to the Congress and some sleepless nights to the BJP. The occasion was marked not only by a show of strength by the key opposition leaders but also by their intentions to take on the BJP unitedly. Be it Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav or National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, all appeared on the same page to control the saffron surge.
Jammu Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said there are chances for the DMK top leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to become the Prime Minister if Opposition parties come together and win the general election next year. Abdullah said Congress should forget about the Prime Minister's choice and focus shall be only on winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
What is more interesting is that the Congress which was earlier adamant on its stand to make Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate, took a step back and said that it's not the question of who will lead the fight.
"All like-minded-opposition parties must come together in this fight against divisive forces. That is our desire. I never said who will lead, who will become the Prime Minister. Farooq Saab, I am telling you--we are not telling who will lead or who is not going to lead; that is not the question. We want to fight together unitedly. That is our desire," Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told Abdullah during his address.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav slammed the ruling BJP at the Centre for its "anti-social justice" approach and called for all like-minded parties, including regional players, to jointly take on the saffron party-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The country was suffering from several issues like unemployment, inflation and "they had hijacked all the constitutional institutions," he said in an apparent reference to the BJP. Democracy was in danger, he alleged.
"So we need to fight back. What they have been trying to do in Maharashtra, what they have been trying to do in Jharkhand but Bihar had made them a loser and that is the concept. All the senior leaders are here, Kharge ji is here. I have been appealing to everyone-- all the regional parties, all the opposition parties to come together on one platform; all the like-minded parties. We can defeat them," he added.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday praised DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and expressed confidence the latter will rise to national prominence. (With PTI inputs)
