Opposition parties must be ready for ‘give and take’ to fight BJP: Kapil Sibal

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said a UPA-3 government coming to power in 2024 is “very much possible” provided the Opposition parties have a commonality of purpose, an agenda reflecting it and are ready for “give and take” when fielding candidates to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Sibal, a prominent Opposition voice and a former Congress leader, also said that instead of a common minimum programme, the Opposition parties should talk about a “new vision for India”.

His remarks come days before a crucial meeting of Opposition parties, hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on June 23, where top Opposition leaders such as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former AICC chief Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Benerjee, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, among others, are set to deliberate on the way forward for forming an anti-BJP coalition for the Lok Sabha polls next year. In an interview with PTI, Sibal said the Congress’ win in Karnataka assembly polls was an example that the BJP can be defeated but cautioned against making sweeping statements for 2024, asserting that a Lok Sabha election is fought on different grounds altogether.

The former Union minister also insisted that the fight for 2024 was not against Prime Minister Narendra Modi but “against the ideology that he seeks to perpetuate” Sibal said UPA-3 could be a “reality” in 2024 provided the Opposition parties have a commonality of purpose, an agenda which reflects it and that they move forward with the mindset that there “needs to be a lot of give and take”. “There needs to be give and take at the time of distribution of tickets in those states and constituencies where two or more political parties’ candidates are vying for the same seat. Once these three things are agreed upon, I think UPA-3 is very much possible,” Sibal told PTI over phone from New York. Asked if it would be practically possible to put up joint candidates against the BJP when there are serious differences in Opposition ranks, Sibal said talk of differences was an “overstatement”, citing that in many of the states, certain political parties are truly dominant. “

For example the Congress is the real opposition to BJP in many states such as Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In these states there is no issue. Among states where there are non-Congress Opposition governments, such as in West Bengal we all know that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is the dominant partner. There will be a very few constituencies in West Bengal where there will be any kind of conflict,” he said. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, there will not be any problem as the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have fought together many times without any real conflict, Sibal noted. “In a state like Telangana there may be a problem. In Andhra Pradesh, it is unlikely that there would be any Opposition coalition because of a possible three-way contest involving Jagan’s party (YSRCP), the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP),” he said. “In Goa again there will be a direct contest between the Congress and the BJP.