New Delhi: Buoyed by the near total unity
of the Opposition parties during the July 5 nationwide strike,
NDA is planning to take the momentum forward by seeking to
corner the government on issues like price rise in Parliament
during the coming Monsoon session.
NDA convenor Sharad Yadav today said he expected parties
like BSP and RJD, which did not associate with the `Bharat
Bandh`, to support the demands in Parliament for rollback of
fuel prices and steps to bring down costs of foodgrains and
other essential items.
Apparently seeking to woo all the parties, he said
issues related to price hike were not confined to any
political party and all those sympathetic towards people`s
problems would join the efforts to corner the government.
"A person or party is not the leader this time, it is
the issue that is the leader. On issues, the opposition unity
will get further strengthened in coming days and government
will have to face the heat over price rise in the coming
session of Parliament," Yadav told PTI in an interview.
The JD-U chief, who played a key role in organising the
Bharat Bandh, said the July 5 agitation proved a cataylst for
opposition unity and was the beginning of non-UPA parties
coming together.
"The Bandh was unprecedented in the history of
independent India. It was the first big step against the UPA
in the last six years," he added.
He dismissed the criticism of the Congress, which took
a jibe at the Left and BJP for coming together during the
`Bharat Bandh` and accused the ruling party of trying to
obfuscate important issues on the pretext of secularism.
"Congress wants to use secularism as a cover to push
other burning issues under the carpet. The country does not
run on a single issue. There are many issues, which are
important," the JD(U) leader said.
He claimed that the UPA was "shaken" after Bharat Bandh
and hence they would try to break the Opposition unity.
Countering Congress attack, he said, "I want to ask the
Congress why they joined hands with BJP on the issue of
Women`s Reservation Bill and how many times it held
discussions with the main opposition party on the nuclear
deal," Yadav said.
He expected to get the support of BSP and RJD in
Parliament of the price rise issue.
BSP did not participate in the `Bharat Bandh` because
the SP, its main rival in Uttar Pradesh, had associated with
it. Similarly, RJD-LJP did not join the bandh because JD(U),
their main rival in Bihar, was part of it.
PTI
