NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday expressed concerns on about the INDIA bloc, echoing Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah‘s sentiments about the lack of coordination within the opposition alliance.
While speaking to the reporters, Raut highlighted the absence of any strategic meetings following the Lok Sabha elections to chart the alliance’s future course.
“We fought the Lok Sabha elections together and the results were also good. After that it was the responsibility of all of us, especially Congress, to keep the INDIA alliance alive, sit together and show the way forward. But till now, not a single such meeting has taken place after the Lok Sabha elections,” Raut said
“This is not right for the INDIA alliance…Leaders like Omar Abdullah, Mamta Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal all say that the INDIA alliance has no existence now.,” he added.
Raut also held Congress responsible for the fallout and said that the alliance lacks coordination, discussion and dialogue.
“If such a feeling comes in the minds of the people, then the biggest party of the alliance Congress is responsible for this. There is no coordination, no discussion, no dialouge,” Raut said.
“This means that people have doubts about whether everything is fine or not in the INDIA alliance. If this alliance breaks once, then the INDIA alliance will never be formed again,” he added.
Raut’s remark comes a day after National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also called for a clarity on the opposition alliance, particularly given the tensions between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the Delhi assembly elections.
Abdullah said that if the alliance was only for the Lok Sabha elections, then it must be wound up and opposition parties should start working separately.
Responding to the media queries over the time limit for the INDIA bloc, Abdullah said, “As far as I remember, there was no time limit set on this. Unfortunately, since no meeting of the INDIA bloc is being called, there is no clarity on this—neither regarding leadership, nor the agenda, nor whether we will continue or not. Perhaps the elections in Delhi will happen. After that, it would be good if all the stakeholders of the INDIA bloc are called, and there is clarity on whether this was only for the parliamentary elections.”
Ruptures erupt inside the INDIA bloc as Congress and AAP have decided to contest the Delhi assembly elections separately. The two parties are already in a state of political crossfire, with Delhi Congress leaders hitting out at the ten-year ‘misrule’ of AAP dispensation and the latter clapping back.
Days ago, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken launched an all-out offensive against AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal terming him anti-national while the AAP issued an ultimatum to the grand old party to issue an apology for the same. This has set the stage for a further fierce political fight between the two INDIA bloc allies.
Prithviraj Chavan also made a strong pitch for giving up the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and demanded a reversal to traditional ballot papers. “One may argue that EVMs haven’t been proven to be erroneous and inaccurate, but this doesn’t rule out the possibility of them malfunctioning and rigging,” he said, citing the example of Germany.
The former Maharashtra CM claimed that, despite years of conducting polling through EVMs, the European country has reverted to the ballot papers.
Delhi is all set to go for the polls on February 5 and the counting of votes will take place on February 8.