By Ram Kumar Kaushik
Congress, finally responds to the non-BJP political parties' calls. Congress has announced to go all out for electoral alliance with ideologically aligned regional parties. In the 85th AICC plenary session at Raipur, the political resolution is tabled addressing the most talked about issue of formidable political formation by non-BJP parties to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) at the center and in different states going into elections in next one year.
Push for alliance
The party has decided to push for alliances ahead of the assembly polls in 2023 and the Lok Sabha election in 2024, with the belief that the unity of secular and socialist forces will be the hallmark of the future of the Congress party. Congress is hoping to identify, mobilise and align like-minded secular forces, including secular regional forces who agree with their ideology, as the party leadership believes there is an urgent need for a united opposition to take on the NDA on common ideological grounds.In the opening session of the plenary, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge indicated the party's commitment to united opposition to take BJP head-on in the election arena. The political resolution presented later proposed to open dialogue with other political parties and establish a forum for all meaningful alliances.
Political Consensus
Congress leadership was facing questions from ‘secular' political parties like Nitish Kumar's Janta Dal United (JDU) and Communists on building a political consensus for a united opposition alliance. Congress always desires to be recognized as Big brother in the opposition alliance since it is the oldest political outfit having footprints across India. This stance of the Congress and specifically Gandhi family has not gone down well with several parties who have performed well and have outsmarted both Congress and BJP in their regions. Mamata Banerjee in Bengal to Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi are claiming more political capital over congress in the proposed opposition alliance. The Party has also proposed several amendments to the Constitution in response to the loss of five state governments to defection. One of their proposed amendments aims to eliminate the toppling of elected governments through the purchasing of legislators. Additionally, the party aims to address concerns over the effectiveness of Electoral Bonds, which they have referred to as “fatally flawed and fully corrupt,” by establishing a National Election Fund to which everyone can contribute. Funds will be allocated to political parties using transparent and fair criteria laid down by law.
The Grand Plan
The Congress Party also plans to restore voter faith in the electoral process, as more than 14 recognised political parties, several activists, and computer scientists have raised concerns about the efficacy of EVMs. If necessary, the party will build a consensus with all like-minded political parties to take up the issue with ECI or go to court if the ECI does not respond.With these political proposals, the Congress Party emphasises the need to be a responsible and responsive opposition where they are the main opposition party, focusing on respective local issues. They plan to implement all resolutions, particularly those of the organisation, in letter and spirit within an immediate time frame.
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