Regional satraps wary of grand alliance against BJP
The Congress said the presence of these leaders cannot be looked at from a political prism
New Delhi: The regional parties ranging from the Trinamul, JD(S), JD(U) and even the Left, dismissed attempts by the Congress to signal the begining of a grand alliance against Narendra Modi and the BJP at this juncture.
Mamata Banerjee, H.D. Deve Gowda, Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, Sharad Yadav, D. Raja and D.P. Tripathi were seated in the front row at the opening ceremony of the two-day conference to commemorating Jawaharlal Nehru’s 125th birth anniversary.
It was addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai among other leaders.
Except the BJP and its allies, most of the parties were represented in the event as the Congress tried to signal coming together of all parties to take on the BJP.
Officially, the Congress said the presence of these leaders cannot be looked at from a political prism.
“Nothing more should be read into our participation…our party recognises the enormous contribution of Nehru to the making of a secular Indian state and his role in establishing a parliamentary democratic system,” CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said. Mr Raja said the CPI was represented at the event through him as the party acknowledges the contributions of Nehru.