Opposition unity? Or fight for opposition leadership? That's the question as the countdown for the Sunday rally in Patna begins.
The shamiana is there, the stage and mikes have been more or less set, and the arrangements for bringing the public from many parts of Bihar, have been finalised. But the question is who all will be there on the dais to hold their hands and raise them in a show of opposition unity. Another question, which is equalli important is, whether it is a fight for leadership of a united opposition whenever that happens.
That is the current status of the rally planned to show the strength of the opposition vis-a-vis the BJP, and the battle cry is BJP bhagao, Bharat bachao—chase away the BJP and save India. The rally is slated to be held at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna .
Rahul Gandhi left for Norway on Friday, where at the invitation of the Norwegian external affairs minister, he will meet political and business leaders. So, he will have to give the opposition unity rally, convened by the Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav a miss.
Though Congress president Sonia Gandhi's attendance has not been confirmed to the RJD so far, they are preparing to receive senior Ghulam Nabi Azad, LoP, Rajya Sabha, as a representative of the Congress party.
If Nitish Kumar, before dumping the opposition, had said that in the absence of an alternate plan and programme, meetings for opposition unity were meaningless, Bahujan Samaj Party Mayawati said they would stay away from the rally, till such time the details of the leadership of the opposition as well as the seat sharing formula for 2019 Lok Sabha elections was finalised. Mayawati's was a big name aimed at making a big presence at the rally.
Was she trying to keep her option of going with the NDA open, given her arch rival Akhilesh Yadav is expected to attend the rally? Or did she seriously expect these details to be finalised almost two years ahead of the elections?
Senior JDU sources say it is the latter. “ It is their party affair, so they know best. But knowing her, she would want a big role, for she would be able to attract Dalit votes across the country. She may think that as of now, she is better placed than the Congress,” said a Patna based source.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, chief of the Trinamool Congress, is also expected to attend the rally. With her party's win in recent elections in her state, Mamata has proven her ability to dare the BJP, and has a national stature that possibly even Nitish does not have.
The rally, ironically, was planned when the grand alliance in Bihar was very much intact, and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was to stand by the side of Lalu Prasad Yadav, and the two of them were to receive the others in Patna.
As of now, the rally is being seen as “Lalu's rally”. The only ally who has stuck his neck out and supported Lalu Prasad Yadav is Sharad Yadav, who is committed to building an anti-BJP alliance ahead of 2019. While Lalu is expecting him to attend the rally, JD(U) sources say it cannot be said for sure that the rebel leader will be there.
Sharad's presence in the rally will be an open show of indiscipline and an anti-party activity, and could be a ground for his expulsion from the party, and the Rajya Sabha. Sharad on Friday approached the Election Commission of India, and claimed that his followers constitute the genuine JD(U) as he had founded the party.
It may be recalled that it was Nitish Kumar, who made the first call for opposition unity at the release of Congress leader P. Chidambaram's book launch many months ago. Kumar was flanked by Chidambaram on one side and left leader Sitharam Yechury on the other. Seated in the front row before him was former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. Kumar had asked Rahul to take the initiative.
But by the fourth week of July, Nitish had left the opposition and soon made his JD(U) a part of the BJP -led NDA.
