Politics
Congress Critiques PM Face Focus: Implications for Opposition INDIA Alliance
Congress Critiques PM Face Focus: Implications for Opposition INDIA Alliance
On Monday, senior Congressman Jairam Ramesh emphasized the significance of Indian elections going beyond simple personality contests and downplayed the role of the prime ministerial visage. Jairam Ramesh declared, “In our country, elections are not beauty contests,” in response to the question of whether the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will field a PM candidate. In our nation, political parties compete with one another through their ideologies, symbols, and campaigns.
The Congress general secretary responsible for communications explained the opposition’s platform for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections: “We never had a uniform manifesto. We have the ‘Panch Nyay’ agenda, which is the agenda of the entire INDIA alliance as well as Congress.” In addition, Ramesh called the BJP’s assertion that it won over 370 seats in the Lok Sabha elections “psychological warfare.” “Amit Shah and PM Modi are masters of psychological warfare. He questioned, “If they are going to win over 370 seats in the Lok Sabha, why are they pursuing the BJD, Pawan Kalyan, or TDP?
Ramesh stated, “Earlier, PM Modi claimed he alone was sufficient for the nation,” referencing the latter’s repudiation of the INDIA bloc and his attempts to recruit regional parties. However, they are currently seeking coalitions with Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan Kalyan, and the BJD to bring the NDA back to life. In India, there are two ‘I’s. When we eliminate the two “I”s—”Imandari” and “Insaniyat”—only NDA remains.”‘Imandari’ and ‘Insaniyat’ are our two issues for the 2024 elections,” he continued.
In a severe setback to the opposition’s hopes of assembling a strong front to thwart the BJP-led juggernaut in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool Congress unilaterally declared candidates for all 42 West Bengal seats on Sunday. The largest surprise of the day came from TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s nomination of former cricket player Yusuf Pathan from the Baharampur seat, which is home to state Congress chief and five-term MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
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On Sunday, Chowdhury asserted that Banerjee’s primary goal is to defeat PM Modi at all costs, even if it means the BJP winning because she is afraid of him. “Mamata Banerjee fears she will have to deal with Modi if she joins the INDIA Alliance. She is concerned that the TMC party may be put in danger if the ED and CBI begin visiting the party on Modi’s directives. Mamata Banerjee is therefore sending a message to Modi’s office by leaving the alliance: “Don’t be upset with me; I’m not part of the alliance and I won’t compete with the BJP,” he said.
