New Delhi19 minutes agoAuthor: Vaibhav Palnitkar
Who against Modi in 2024? This is again the biggest question for the opposition. Sometimes in Patna, sometimes in Chennai and sometimes in Hyderabad, there are talks and meetings to find answers. But the real question was asked by Congress leader Salman Khurshid, the place was Patna. The leaders of the opposition were engaged in the national convention of the CPI(M). In this, Salman Khurshid asked, ‘Who will say I Love You first?’
The answer to Salman Khurshid’s question has still not been found, but Kapil Sibal, his colleague in the Congress, is trying for it. He has formed a new organization – ‘Insaaf Ke Sipahi’. On the pretext of this, they are connecting the opposition parties. Sibal is going to present the ‘New Vision of India’ at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar today i.e. on March 11.
Read a special conversation with Kapil Sibal on these issues…
Question: You have been in politics for almost 32 years, but could win only two elections, you were also called a parachute candidate. You don’t have any mass base, so why would other leaders come with you?
answer: I don’t run any party. I have remained on the sidelines in the party system. Different equations run within the parties. Somewhere politics is run on caste, somewhere there are other parameters, but all these are the decisions of the parties, what would I say on that.
Question: Congress, AAP, SP, RJD, JMM have supported your platform. Is this just a new front of the opposition against the BJP?
answer: My platform will be successful only when all parties will also fight against injustice. Injustice is being done to Mamata in Bengal, Uddhav in Maharashtra, CPM in Kerala, Tejashwi in Bihar, Akhilesh in UP, Hemant Soren in Jharkhand, Farooq in Kashmir. If we come on the platform of justice against this, then this agenda can become a national issue.
Question: Can Nitish, Mamta, KCR, Akhilesh, Stalin, Mehbooba Mufti really ever come on one stage? Do you think he will forget his political ambition?
answer: It is not possible that so many parties unite on all issues. Every state has its own problems. The direct fight in West Bengal is between Mamta ji and BJP, Congress does not have much role in this. The battle of Bengal will be fought in Bengal, its effect will not be seen in Maharashtra. Maha Vikas Aghadi will fight with BJP in Maharashtra. Therefore, even if the opposition parties come on one platform, this battle will have to be fought separately in each state.
Question: On issues like seat distribution, the opposition gets divided and the BJP benefits?
answer: You are talking about seats, I consider it a fight for justice. The present government is strangling democracy, our institutions like ED, CBI are supporting the government. This is the real fight. As far as the seats are concerned, these parties themselves will decide that together, I have nothing to do with it.
Question: You have been a minister for 10 years, do you think ED-CBI is taking action in favor of the government? Such actions used to take place in your time also?
answer: If you see the map of India, then ED has divided that map. Where there are BJP governments, their road does not go there. Where the leaders of the opposition are sitting, they reach every street. All this happens at the behest of BJP. BJP thinks that elections are coming, put Sisodia inside, give Lokpal notice against Shibu Soren, start questioning Lalu ji. Central agencies have become political.
Question: Your closeness with Arvind Kejriwal increased, so BJP shared a video of May 14, 2014, in which Kejriwal is calling you the biggest corrupt? How has it all changed? Are you fighting their case too?
answer: We had filed a case against Arvind Kejriwal in this matter. After that he told me that he had said this not for his own reasons, but on someone else’s advice, after that the matter ended. Till date I have not made personal allegations in politics, it is of no use. I am against Modi ji, but I have no personal allegation against him.
Question: You were a minister in 2011, you promised a tablet. Datawind had also received pre-orders of 14 lakhs. Till November 2012 even 10 thousand could not be shipped. What happened to that project? Did any student get this tablet?
answer: The new government came and then it was left. When the new government came, the names of many schemes were changed to new ones. I am going to talk about this at Jantar Mantar on 11th March.
Question: It is written on the website of your platform that the judicial system has to be overhauled. You have been a lawyer for 50 years, your father was also a lawyer, your son is also a lawyer. You are now remembering that the judicial system is polluted. Was it like this even when you were a minister or has it happened now?
answer: I have always raised my voice for this, we have also tried. There are many flaws in the judicial system and now they are increasing. If the public loses faith in the court and the judge, then nothing worse can happen in a democracy.
Question: Who will be the ‘constables of justice’ and how will they work?
answer: The entire system of justice will work in a decentralized manner. The soldier of justice can be anyone, he can be of Trinamool, can be of Congress, can be a leader of CPM. Whatever may be the political party, but it can work for the platform of justice.
Question: If Rahul Gandhi asks you for advice on how to unite the opposition, what will you answer?
answer: I will tell Rahul Gandhi to become a ‘soldier of justice’.
Even before Kapil Sibal, many leaders have tried to unite the opposition. Read those 4 occasions, when opposition leaders have appeared on a stage…
1. May 23, 2018: When the Congress-JD(S) government was formed in Karnataka
The style of meeting of Sonia Gandhi and Mayawati in this event was very much discussed, because Mayawati’s party BSP had lost badly in the UP elections a year ago. It got only 19 seats. The Congress had fought this election with the SP.
JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in as the chief minister of Karnataka after forming an alliance with the Congress. JD(S) had 37 and Congress had 78 MLAs. Despite this, the Congress had approved Kumaraswamy as the CM to prevent the BJP from forming the government with 104 seats.
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mamta Banerjee, Mayawati, Chandrababu Naidu, Akhilesh Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal, Sitaram Yechury, Sharad Pawar attended the swearing-in ceremony. This gathering was seen as a strong opposition front against the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but it did not work.
what happened next: In the results of the Lok Sabha elections held on 23 May 2019, the BJP won 303 seats. NDA got 353 seats. Congress could win only 52 seats.
2. 27 August 2017: At Lalu’s rally in Patna
It was being said about Lalu’s rally that for the first time SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati would come on the same stage. Later Mayawati refused to attend the rally.
In Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav prepared the way for the new Grand Alliance by mobilizing the leaders of 22 opposition parties. This rally was named ‘Save the country – drive away the BJP’. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav, Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha participated in it. Recorded messages of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were played at the rally.
what happened next: In the 2020 assembly elections in Bihar, NDA got 125 seats, BJP 74, JD(U) 43 seats. RJD became the largest party, it won 75 seats.
3. 18 January 2023: Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s rally
Chief Minister of Telangana K. Chandrasekhar Rao i.e. KCR changed the name of his party Telangana Rashtra Samithi to Bharat Rashtra Samithi. This was KCR’s first show of strength after this. In this, CMs of 4 states including Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann had reached.
Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao held a rally in Khammam. It was attended by SP President Akhilesh Yadav, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and Communist leader D Raja. However, Mamta Banerjee did not attend and Nitish Kumar was not called. Congress was also not involved in this.
4. March 1, 2023: On Stalin’s 70th birthday
On Stalin’s birthday, big leaders of the Hindi heartland had reached Chennai. However, Mamta Banerjee, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal and Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao did not attend the programme.
DMK organized a big rally on the 70th birthday of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. Stalin was joined by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah. However, during this Stalin said that the parties should rise above differences and come together to defeat the BJP, the talk of a third front is meaningless.