Samajwadi Party (SP) Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav on Thursday (February 6) came down heavily on the Congress party and said that a non-Congress leader should lead the INDIA bloc if it was to have any chance of dislodging PM Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power. In an interview given to Indian Express, Yadav said that the opposition has not been able to make much headway under Congress’ leadership as the party has been ‘arrogant’ in its dealings even with allies. He maintained though that the Samajwadi Party did not oppose Congress.
When asked if Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should lead the bloc, he answered in the affirmative.
“We have not got the success we expected under the Congress’s leadership. In such a situation, those who have consistently performed better are from the south (DMK) and Mamata. In my view, the situation may improve if she is made the leader,” he said, as quoted by The Indian Express.
The INDIA bloc, formed with an ambitious aim of bring all opposition parties together to defeat BJP, appeared to do well in Lok Sabha Elections 2024. At a time the BJP was talking of bagging more than 400 seats, the opposition was able to stop the juggernaut at 240, well short of its stated aim.
However, the constituents of the alliance have not fared well in regional elections. Most notably, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra was defeating decisively by BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections 2024.
In Haryana too, when it was expected that the Congress would easily win, the party, and the alliance tasted defeat at the hands of the BJP.
