In an alternative to the national third front that several opposition parties are keen on, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday suggested state-level alliances to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Vijayan said in today's times, the possibility of forming a national-level front would be difficult. "So we need to think practically," he said at a programme at Angamaly.
Noting the key role of Congress, he also wondered whether the grand old party will be ready for such a scheme that would help put BJP out of power.
Vijayan suggested that all the parties that are planning to take on the BJP should come together so that its influence is reduced at the regional level.
He recalled similar alliances happening before for state and Lok Sabha elections, but he insisted that this strategy should be adopted across the country. "If we do that, we can deal a major blow to the BJP and defeat them," he said.
"What needs to be seen is whether the Congress is ready to take such a broad view," Vijayan added.
With repeated electoral defeats, the Congress has lost out its erstwhile influence in major parts of the country. Either the BJP or a regional party has eaten into its space, leaving it with very little to bargain. However, its leaders continue to demand its fair share in the national electoral space.
Vijayan's statement comes days after the Opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC, BRS and Samajwadi Party, came together in New Delhi in a show of unity and accused the Narendra Modi government of getting the second half of the budget session of Parliament washed out, while asserting that if this attitude continues, the country will move towards a "dictatorship".
With tricolour in hand, several Opposition MPs marched from Parliament to Vijay Chowk, and then representatives of 19 parties had held a press conference on April 6 at the Constitution Club where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders resolved to take the Opposition unity further.
In a boost to Opposition unity, the Trinamool Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party, which had been blowing hot and cold on sharing stage with the Congress on earlier occasions, had participated in the march and the presser to give a joint call against the government on issues such as the Adani matter, price rise and alleged attack on democracy.
Notably, the Election Commission has withdrawn the national party status of Trinamool Congress, NCP and CPI while the same has been accorded to the Aam Aadmi Party.
(Edited by : Pradeep John)
