NEW DELHI: Having broken the ice and announced the intent to work together, the Opposition bloc is likely to focus on a joint people’s programme and an early joint campaign to get the anti-BJP camp off the ground with a nationwide blitz. The follow-up to the Patna conclave, scheduled to be held in Shimla next month, is seen as a crucial step in providing a coherent face to the fledgling coalition.
The Shimla gathering would be aimed at erecting the twin pillars of ‘programme and campaign”, which would help provide a strong foundation for the anti-BJP camp, sources said. The brainstorming will discuss a sort of manifesto which would contrast the Opposition with the ruling BJP in terms of policy, with a greater clarity on opposition’s agenda and promises, and failures of the Modi government.
Besides, sources said, the Opposition is also looking at launching a joint campaign across the states to send out a message to the people that the united camp is a serious initiative at presenting an alternative platform to BJP.
“We are eyeing a late July or early August kickstart to public rallies, which will be held in states as part of outreach to the people. More than outreach, it will first be to convey our commitment to the voters,” a source said.
The keenness on a common programme is driven by the belief that the bloc will have to reach out to the people with a positive agenda, rather than just a criticism of the failures of the Modi dispensation. “The people should be able to cut through the propaganda and see the truth about the government. But at the same time, they should have a ready alternative of policy and approach. We want it to be a people’s platform,” a source said.
However, given that complications of the past continue to dog the Opposition camp, the future agenda of crafting a common policy and campaign plan appears ambitious in the near future. Kerala and West Bengal pose twin challenges to a united front. While Congress is bitterly opposed to the ruling CPM in Kerala with little chance of a tie-up, it is in alliance with the Left Front in Bengal, where Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee is the main rival. There appears little indication from Congress about any policy shift in these two states. How would a united camp manage the joint campaign here remains open to question.
The Shimla gathering would be aimed at erecting the twin pillars of ‘programme and campaign”, which would help provide a strong foundation for the anti-BJP camp, sources said. The brainstorming will discuss a sort of manifesto which would contrast the Opposition with the ruling BJP in terms of policy, with a greater clarity on opposition’s agenda and promises, and failures of the Modi government.
Besides, sources said, the Opposition is also looking at launching a joint campaign across the states to send out a message to the people that the united camp is a serious initiative at presenting an alternative platform to BJP.
“We are eyeing a late July or early August kickstart to public rallies, which will be held in states as part of outreach to the people. More than outreach, it will first be to convey our commitment to the voters,” a source said.
The keenness on a common programme is driven by the belief that the bloc will have to reach out to the people with a positive agenda, rather than just a criticism of the failures of the Modi dispensation. “The people should be able to cut through the propaganda and see the truth about the government. But at the same time, they should have a ready alternative of policy and approach. We want it to be a people’s platform,” a source said.
However, given that complications of the past continue to dog the Opposition camp, the future agenda of crafting a common policy and campaign plan appears ambitious in the near future. Kerala and West Bengal pose twin challenges to a united front. While Congress is bitterly opposed to the ruling CPM in Kerala with little chance of a tie-up, it is in alliance with the Left Front in Bengal, where Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee is the main rival. There appears little indication from Congress about any policy shift in these two states. How would a united camp manage the joint campaign here remains open to question.
