Congress’ Delhi dharna sees participation from other opposition parties. Manmohan Singh says shed differences and work together to defeat Modi govt.
New Delhi: The Congress’ Bharat Bandh against spiralling fuel prices received a mixed response Monday, with the party successfully protesting in states where it is a leading player and where it has already sealed alliances with local parties.
The bandh, however, was a low-key affair in states where it has a declining presence and where it does not have significant allies, with only Congress workers taking to the streets here.
The protests also saw a number of opposition parties join hands with the Congress but conspicuous by their absence were the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee extended her support but her party workers stayed off the streets in West Bengal. In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a one-time BJP ally, didn’t officially endorse the bandh but party workers did sit on a dharna with the Congress at some places.
The bandh was nearly fully observed in Bihar, where the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a leading Congress ally, actively participated in it. It was a similar situation in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where the DMK came out in full support of the Bharat Bandh.
Also read: Shiv Sena puts up posters against rising fuel prices, then stays away from Bharat bandh
Party protests at Ram Lila
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were among those who spearheaded the party’s protests near the Ram Lila ground in Delhi.
“It is the need of the hour that all the parties should shed their differences and listen to the voice and people to work together to defeat the Modi government,” former PM Manmohan Singh said at the dharna.
The event saw a host of opposition parties such as the TMC, AAP, DMK, NCP, RJD, RLD and others participating in it. It began with Rahul Gandhi leading a march from Raj Ghat to a fuel station near the Ram Lila ground.
Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh joined the protest at the Ram Lila ground along with opposition leaders such as the NCP’s Sharad Pawar, Sharad Yadav, Sanjay Singh of AAP, Shukhendu Shekhar Roy of TMC, Jayant Chaudhary of RLD and others. Even the Communist parties chose to organise a separate dharna at the nearby Jantar Mantar.
Ineffective in UP
In Uttar Pradesh, the state that sends the largest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha, and where the opposition alliance is in a seat-sharing tussle, the bandh call got a mixed response.
Shops remained open in places such as Lucknow and Kanpur while Varanasi and Gorakhpur witnessed a partial lockdown. The bandh was completely ineffective in the Western UP cities of Meerut, Agra, Saharanpur and Ghaziabad.
In Rae Bareli and Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi respectively, the bandh was successful with traders themselves supporting it.
A major reason for the lukewarm response was the non-participation of the SP and the BSP. This, despite Congress leader Ahmed Patel having personally called senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati on 6 September, to request them to participate in the protests.
Also read: Modi govt has crossed the limit, Opposition must shed differences & unite: Manmohan Singh
Both parties stayed away. The SP, instead, held a dharna of its own at every tehsil in the state on the issues of price rise, unemployment and deteriorating law and order situation.
“Why should we participate in a bandh called by the Congress,” asked SP spokesperson and MLC Sunil Yadav Sajan. “We are the largest party and Congress has no presence in the state. They should have joined our dharna.”
He, however, insisted that this should not be viewed as a rupture in the opposition unity. “Party-specific programmes and elections are two different things. This shouldn’t be seen in the context of polls.”
The BSP didn’t clear its stand till very late.
“In the past behen Mayawatiji has been raising the issue of price rise and our stand against the price hike of fuel is very clear. It was a bandh called by Congress and every party has the right to do their own protests,” said BSP senior leader and spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria.
“It is our prerogative to participate or not in such events. The BSP also does hols several protests on various issues and it is not obligatory for the Congress to participate in them.”
Smt Sonia Gandhi led an emaciated Congress to a most unexpected victory in 2004. It sounds cruel to say this, but her son did not add a single A 4 sheet of paper to his CV during the party’s decade in power. It faces the most powerful electoral machine India has ever seen. The opposition is not fusing together in a chemical reaction, despite the arithmetic looking so compelling. Mother and daughter need to enter the fray full time, till the last vote is counted.