The keenly watched meeting of the opposition parties in Patna on June 23, by all accounts, was “pleasant” and “very good”, except for one — the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which not only boycotted the joint press conference, but even released a statement saying until the Congress publicly denounces Centre’s ordinance and declares that all 31 of its Rajya Sabha MPs will oppose it, it will be difficult for AAP to participate in the “future meetings of like-minded parties where Congress is a participant”.
The statement further said it’s “high time that the Congress decides whether it stands with the people of Delhi or with the Modi government”. This single act of the AAP has cast a shadow on the much underlined claims of the “opposition unity” by the other 14 political parties.
In fact, the stage for a tussle was set two days ahead of the Patna meeting, when AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to all parties, except to the Congress, thanking them for their support against the Central government’s promulgation of the ordinance. Targeting the Congress, he also said all parties must make their stand clear on the ordinance in the June 23 meeting, and the strategy to defeat the same in Parliament must be discussed first.
One the day ahead of the meeting, highly places sources indicated that AAP may stage a walkout unless the Congress formally declares its opposition to the ordinance.
Given the deep distrust between the AAP and Congress, the statement of its national spokesperson just hours ahead of the make or break meeting alleging that an understanding between Rahul Gandhi and the BJP had already happened on the ordinance set the tone for the talks between the two that took place later. “Else what is the difficulty in Congress clearing its stand?’, asked AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar, who was responding to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who while leaving for Patna, had said even Kejriwal would be aware of the fact that the ordinance cannot be proposed or opposed outside Parliament. He further said before the Parliament session begins, all parties will meet to decide the agenda, which will be raised during the session, and a decision on the issue will be taken in that meeting.
In the June 23 Patna meeting, Kejriwal was the second person to speak.
According to a top source with the AAP, Kejriwal presented his views on opposition unity, how to defeat the BJP, and made a direct appeal to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for a meeting. “Chai par toh bulalijiye (invite us for tea). We have misunderstandings. We can solve them together when we meet. We know that Congress cannot support this ordinance. Place this this in public domain.” In fact, the Delhi CM has been waiting for a meeting with the Congress leader for nearly a month since May 27 when he had first tweeted requesting for the meeting.
Kejriwal also listed the number of times that AAP has come out in support of the Congress when Rahul Gandhi lost his membership of Parliament, when Congress government was toppled in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh, and when Congress was not able to form the government in Goa despite being the single largest party, when Puducherry CM sat on a dharna, how AAP government in Punjab responded positively to Karnataka Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah’s request for the rice scheme to meet the commitment of the party’s election promises.
Finally, when Congress’ turn came to speak, Kharge spoke ahead of Rahul and confronted Kejriwal with the most recent statement on June 23 morning by Kakkar and two other statements by the AAP. Kejriwal shot back saying if there is a competition between the two parties on statements against each other, then the Congress would win hands down — “Your leaders (Sandeep Dixit, Ajay Maken) have been demanding a CBI enquiry, NIA enquiries against me. There is no point in this ‘tu tu main main’. Whatever has happened has happened. We must forget and come together in the interest of this country. We must end this ‘matbhed and manbhed‘” . According to a highly placed source with AAP, Kejriwal then requested again for an appointment, saying, “I am requesting with folded hands, let’s sit together, let us know the venue of the meeting today, we will resolve all issues, after that there will be no misunderstanding”. Congress’ state units in Delhi and Punjab are fiercely opposed to any support for AAP, the ordinance issue included.
Congress did not budge on either of Kejriwal’s requests for a meeting with Rahul Gandhi or to make the party’s stand public on the ordinance issue.
At the Patna meet, Rahul, in response to Kejriwal’s request, said that “we have processes” for meetings and declaring stand on ordinances,“Your (Kejriwal) tremendous eagerness for a meeting shows you are up to some mischief”. It was then that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who tried to broker peace between the two — “let us make you sit together for lunch. At least the ice would be broken” — and pointed towards Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who was the host of the Opposition Unity meet.
However, Congress refused to break bread with Kejriwal. “Rahul ji ne mana kar dia, uske lie haan nahi bhari,” (Rahul ji did not agree), Kejriwal said. And, after that, it was all downhill even though Akhilesh Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Banerjee and Uddhav Thackeray spoke with the Congress on the ordinance issue, said an AAP official.
Moreover, AAP’s posture has not gone down well with other leaders who were part of the June 23 meeting, 10 of whom have already declared their opposition to the ordinance following Kejriwal’s meetings with them. “It is very disappointing that they have released a statement, it is understood that Congress will oppose the ordinance. I don’t understand the need for this,” said a leader. In fact, highly placed sources in AAP also conceded that the Congress, in the meeting, had made it clear that it would oppose the ordinance without specifically mentioning which one.
On June 23, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal were under one roof only for the second time. However, the lack of confidence and distrust between the two continued with neither conceding to the other’s stand.
Meanwhile, late Saturday evening, continuing AAP’s attack on Congress, Kakkar tweeted, “If you have to save the country, then Congress must be told not to bet on Rahul Gandhi for the third time and not put pressure on the opposition parties. In the interest of the country, this is more important than even saving the Constitution”.
There is no answer yet on whether AAP would attend the next meeting of the opposition parties scheduled to be held in Shimla. “Can we as a party come to an understanding with the leader of a party (Congress) not willing to have a cup of tea to remove misunderstandings and, not declare its stand against ordinance?” said a party official remarking that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had a knack of carrying the opposition together.
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