Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, who met at Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium as a show of unity, paid tribute to the former Prime Minister.
New Delhi: As the former prime minister and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee died Thursday, opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, gathered at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi to showcase their unity.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Jayant Chaudhary quoted one of Vajpayee’s poem at the event and termed it as something the opposition should take inspiration from in their fight against the BJP.
“Baadhaein aati hain aayein, Ghire pralaya ki ghor ghataein, Paanv ke neeche angaare, Sir par barsen yadi jwalaaein, niz haathon mein hanste hanste, aag lagakar jalna hoga, Kadam milakar chalna hoga (There may be obstacles on the way, the dark clouds cover the sky, fire beneath the feet, flames raining on the head, with a smile we have to walk with fire in the hand.)
“Like Vajpayee said we all have to walk together to save our legacy and culture from the BJP,” said Chaudhary.
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This was the fifth meeting of the opposition in the ‘Sanjhi Virasat’ series called by former Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav. The meeting was attended by leaders of 13 parties, including the Congress.
Other parties were the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress (TMC), National Conference (NC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Janata Dal (Secular), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and RLD. However, no one from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) attended the meeting.
“It was a meeting called by Sharad Yadavji and not Congress,” said a Congress leader over the absence of BSP.
Leaders from all the parties talked about the need for a joint opposition and criticised the government for creating an atmosphere of fear and hate among the countrymen.
‘Golden bird’
At the event, Congress president Rahul Gandhi used BJP chief Amit Shah’s July statement about making “India a golden bird again by 2022” to differentiate between BJP’s ideology with that of the opposition.
“They think of India as a golden bird. We think India is a river like the Ganga, which includes everyone which joins on the way,” said Gandhi. “It is interesting that even the British used to call India a golden bird.”
Gandhi further attacked the government saying the farmers are not getting their due while the benefit of the “golden bird” is limited to a few of its industrialist friends.
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Congress president also said BJP is trying to create a cage for the golden bird. “If you think of India as a golden bird then you need a cage. That’s what BJP is doing and we are trying to break this cage,” he said.
NC leader Farooq Abdullah raised the slogan of Bharat Mata Ki Jai and talked about the discrimination Muslims are facing today.
“I am a Muslim from Kashmir and I want to live in India. I consider India as my country,” he said.
Abdullah also spoke fondly about the former PM. “Vajpayeeji has left us but he did what all he could do for the country and we all are proud of him,” said Abdullah.