Ahead of their proposed mega merger, leaders of six political parties — all members of the erstwhile Janata Parivar — on Monday shared dais at a “Maha dharna” at Jantar Mantar in the national Capital where they accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “telling lies” and “not fulfilling” poll promises on several issues, including black money.
launching a blistering attack on the Modi Government for practicing “divisive” politics, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD supremo lalu Prasad, and JD(U) leaders —Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav — called for “sinking old prejudices” and promised to “script a new story” by ousting the BJP. The protest is being led by Mulayam.
Members of Janata Parivar also stalled the proceedings of the Upper House and held placards in the Well.
Terming the coming together of Janata Parivar outfits as a get-together of “corrupt” and “brand ambassadors of misgovernance”, the BJP said the joint agitation is road-blocker in the path of development and good governance initiated by the Modi Government.
Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, former Union Minister and NCP MP Tariq Anwar and party representative in the Rajya Sabha DP Tripathi also attended the dharna, while West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sent a letter of support to the leaders through her party member in the Rajya Sabha Derek ‘O’ Brien, who, however, did not turn up at the venue. INlD’s Dushyant Chautala and SJP’s Kamal Morarka were also present.
The unity move of these splinter groups was made public last month at lunch hosted by Mulayam for leaders of the other five parties. The meeting authorised Mulayam to finalise the modalities of the merger.
Mulayam gave a clarion call to party workers of different Janata groups to get ready to fight (elections). “The united fight will not remain confined to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. We will also fight in Delhi. We have come under one umbrella to help the farmers, the poor who has been cheated by Modi and the BJP together by coming to power on false promises,” Mulayam said addressing a large crowd on Parliament Street.
Mulayam also accused the Modi Government of spreading communal disharmony across the country. “The BJP lied to the people, cheated the nation and now they want to spread riots. The Agra incident was the beginning; they are preparing for such incidents across the country,” the SP chief cautioned.
“From our identities as separate parties, we have to merge in a single party. An agreement has been reached on this. Mulayam Singh has to work out the modalities. let us take a vow now. let us make a comprehensive Opposition. We should all come together. Setting aside our prejudices, we want to form a strong Opposition,” Nitish Kumar said.
The BJP decimated both the JD (U) and the RJD in the lok Sabha polls in Bihar necessitating the coming together of the bitter rivals Prasad and Kumar in the recent bypolls for 10 Assembly seats in the State. Their success in the bypolls set the stage of larger unity of the Janata Parivar.
Playing audio clips of previous speeches of Modi, the then BJP president Rajnath Singh and Baba Ramdev about bringing back black money, Kumar, lalu, Sharad and Mulayam asked “what happened to the promise that Rs 15 lakh will reach the pockets of the poor once black money is brought back”. They asked the people to ask the BJP leaders whether they will give you the money in cash or cheque.
Attacking the Modi Government on several issues, lalu said, “An attempt is being made to persistently target Mamata Banerjee”. He said that while people talk about the differences between him and Nitish Kumar, “we have come together now”.
In the earlier two meetings among leaders of these parties, the name of the new entity was proposed as “Samajwadi Janata Dal” but no final decision either regarding the name or the flag of the entity has been taken, the sources said.
Sharad recalled that the Janata Parivar had formed three Governments in alliance in the past and reminded Modi dispensation that they have got “only 31 per cent of votes” and will have to “go back” if they did not fulfil the promises. Sources said that while the grand merger of the former constituents could take time, the beginning would be made with the merger of lalu’s RJD and Nitish’s JD(U).
“They are the corrupt who have been rejected by the people and it is a get-together of brand ambassadors of misgovernance. It is unfortunate that the Opposition parties are unable to digest that the country is on the path of development and good governance initiated by Narendra Modi. The issue-less Opposition is acting as a road-blocker in the path of development, good governance and economic agenda of the Government,” BJP’s national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.