No alliance against BJP possible without Congress: Prithviraj Chavan

March 25, 2018 21:08

There cannot be an alliance of opposition parties without the Congress, which would be the fulcrum of any such front to take on the BJP in the 2019 general election, senior party leader Prithviraj Chavan has said.

He said the Congress continues to be a dominant force with its presence in almost all states and if at all anyone could take on the BJP, it would be the Grand Old Party.

"In no way there can be an opposition to the BJP without the Congress. It is just not possible. Congress is a pole of the equation no matter what. If one pole is the BJP, the other pole has to be the Congress," Chavan told PTI in an interview.

"Whether the Congress will be able to carry other political parties is a question. But if you say that (there is an alliance) without the Congress or the BJP, that will clearly be a non-starter," he said.

Amid the rise of regional players and marginalisation of the Congress, he said there are certain states where the Congress is the dominant force such as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

However, in states where it is not a dominant force, it can play a secondary role, Chavan said and cited the examples of Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The former Maharashtra Chief Minister said if the BSP moves along with the Congress it can be a force to reckon with.

Chavan said, "Nationally, it will be a sum of total, sum of states. Every state alliance has to be stitched state by state and then you add up the total."

If somebody says there will be a national alliance with somebody like Mamata Banerjee in it, without the Congress, then "that is not possible", Chavan noted.

Asked why the Congress was not part of the understanding in Uttar Pradesh where the BSP and SP got together to defeat the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha bypolls, he said the main message of UP was that an alliance of like-minded parties can defeat the BJP in next elections. -- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Not changing 2G judgment, non-auction allocation only for...: Sources

The government is not seeking to change the 2012 Supreme Court judgment that backed auction as the preferred mode of allocating telecom spectrum except for narrowly defined sectors such as satellite communication and defence where the...

It's Modi govt that wanted to bring inheritance tax: Cong

Amid the row over Congress leader Sam Pitroda's remarks, the party on Wednesday asserted that it has no plans whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax and cited former Union minister Jayant Sinha's remarks to allege that it is the Modi...

'Can't control polls': SC to EVM critics as it reserves order

The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it cannot 'control the elections' or issue directions simply because doubts have been raised about the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), as it reserved its judgment on a clutch of petitions...

Modi's 'redistribution' charge against Cong gets Pitroda's booster

In his poll rallies, Modi framed Pitroda's comments in his wider onslaught against the Congress, asserting that they have exposed its hidden agenda and that the party has become so removed from the country's social and family values that...

IPL PIX: Pant shines as spirited Delhi Capitals edge Titans

Rishabh Pant's belligerent unbeaten half-century helped Delhi Capitals' to a narrow four-run win over Gujarat Titans.