KAITHAL (Haryana), Sep 25: Several INDIA bloc leaders came together here today, calling for a joint opposition fight against the BJP as they shared the dais to mark the 110th birth anniversary of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal.
National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal attended the rally organised by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in this Haryana city.
There had been speculation that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, and CPM leader Sitaram Yechury might also attend the event, seen over past years as an occasion to put on a show.
INLD leader Abhay Chautala had even invited Mallikarjun Kharge for the rally, but the Congress president gave it a miss.
Other leaders who attended the rally included TMC’s Derek O’Brien, JD(U) leader K C Tyagi, Bhim Army’s Chandrashekhar Azad, former Union minister Birender Singh, and Rashtriya Lok Dal’s S Siddiqui. SAD leaders Prem Singh Chandumajra and Balwinder Singh Bhundar were also part of the rally.
The event was seen as a show of strength by the INLD which has remained out of power in Haryana since 2005.
Addressing the gathering, National Conference’s Abdullah asked all the opposition parties in the country to forget differences and work together in order to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“I want to say to all opposition leaders in the country that we can win only if we fight together,” said Abdullah.
“I want to ask the leaders to forget your differences and move forward with a thinking that if we want to take the county forward, then we will have to defeat the BJP together,” he said.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister further said India is going through a bad phase. “All religions are right. Neither a Hindu faces any danger from a Muslim nor a Muslim from a Hindu…Danger is from those who are trying to spread hatred and divide us,” he said.
JD-U’s Tyagi gave a call for rallying around the INLD in Haryana.
“In Haryana, if any fight is to be won, then we will have to rally around Om Prakash Chautala and INLD. We are ready to lose 10 (Lok Sabha) seats to the BJP in Haryana but not ready to share seats. What is the logic?” he asked.
At present, the INLD is not part of the INDIA bloc.
“Until there is a complete unity, defeating the BJP government will not be easy and this unity cannot be achieved without the INLD,” said Tyagi.
He also lauded INLD MLA Abhay Chautala for his hard work and raising people’s issues.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP O’Brien too gave a call for joining hands and fighting together to remove the BJP from the Centre.
“If any party has any ego, I want to suggest them to keep it in their pocket. We will fight as one,” he stated.
“All opposition parties should fight together to make INDIA win in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and remove (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and the BJP,” said the TMC leader.
He alleged that PM Modi does not fulfil his promises and called the women’s reservation bill another PM Modi’s ‘jumla’ .
He remembered former deputy PM Devi Lal and said he was a popular leader who worked for the welfare of people including farmers.
On the occasion, SAD chief Badal urged all regional parties to unite under one platform to form the next government in the country.
Regional parties could do the utmost for their regions, he said.
“We have witnessed speedy progress in all states where regional parties play a dominant role in politics like in the case of the SAD, INLD and the National Conference”, said Badal.
He also urged people not to believe in some new parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which he said had “destroyed” Punjab and thrown the state into a debt trap.
Asserting that a move was afoot to weaken regional parties, Badal said, “Today some parties are trying to create communal tensions to polarize votes. See what happened in Manipur and Nuh (Haryana). India cannot progress like this. There is a need to make all minorities feel safe in this country.”
Speaking about INLD founder Devi Lal, he said the iconic farmer leader was responsible for introducing a debt waiver scheme for farmers of Haryana, besides introducing the old age pension scheme in the state.
On the women’s reservation bill passed by the Parliament last week, Abdullah called it a BJP’s ‘jumla’. “This is a ‘jumla’ just like the BJP’s claims that Rs 15 lakh will come into the bank account of each person,” he said as he targeted the BJP government.
“More jumlas will come before the (next) elections,” he said.
Abdullah also accused the BJP-led Centre of not conducting elections in Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI)
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