“Hamlet Without…”: P Chidambaram on Opposition Front Without Congress

New Delhi:

Congress’s P Chidambaram at the moment dismissed the potential of an Opposition entrance with out the Congress, insisting that every one different events are “one-state events” and won’t be able to muster greater than 48 seats. Chatting with NDTV within the backdrop of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s efforts to forge an opposition entrance in opposition to the BJP within the 2024 nationwide elections, Mr Chidambaram mentioned, “Political leaders are welcome to make their very own efforts. However arithmetic stares within the face”.

“Barring the BJP and the Congress, there isn’t any political occasion in India which may hope to get greater than 48 seats. All of them are one-state events,” he instructed NDTV in an unique interview.

Among the many opposition, “solely the Congress is able to profitable sizeable seats. With out the Congress, an opposition entrance will probably be like Hamlet with out the Prince of Denmark,” he added in a Shakespearean allusion.

Mr Kumar had met Rahul Gandhi on Monday, the primary on the listing of leaders he meant to fulfill in Delhi. Sources mentioned the 2 leaders had mentioned the potential of attaining Opposition unity forward of the 2024 normal elections.

Mr Gandhi was in Kanyakumari at the moment, flagging off the occasion’s large mass-contact programme “Bharat Jodo Yatra”, as a part of which he’ll stroll to Kashmir – a journey of almost 150 days over 12 states.

Requested concerning the Congress pitching the rally as a people-contact programme as an alternative of a political transfer forward of 2024, Mr Chidambaram admitted that something accomplished by a political occasion has political worth.

“The rally is politically essential. That mentioned, that is an effort to make the folks conscious that the nation is heading for a disaster” and impress upon them the necessity for unity, he mentioned.

Requested if this was yet one more effort to relaunch Rahul Gandhi forward of the occasion’s inside elections due subsequent month given the deal with his outsize position, Mr Chidambaram mentioned Mr Gandhi is already a pacesetter for the reason that bizarre staff of the Congress “acknowledge and settle for Rahul Gandhi as chief”.

“Whether or not the chief will turn out to be president of Congress I can not say. However he’s a pacesetter. President of the Congress occasion can’t be determined by anybody aside from staff of the occasion. The employees need to determine, and they’re very clear of their thoughts that it’s Rahul Gandhi,” he added.