BJP vs Cong at News18 Town Hall: Oppn Plane Took off in 2018 too…: Trivedi | We’re A Democratic Option: Tewari

At the CNN-News18 Town Hall on Monday, reacting to the ongoing Opposition meet of 26 parties in Bengaluru for unity ahead of the 2024 general elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) Sudhanshu Trivedi said that their “plane had taken off in 2018 too, but it didn’t land”. Responding to it, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the “essence of any democracy is change”.

“This is not happening for the first time…Many leaders had joined hands in 2018…People are clear about who will lead the country on which road. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a crystal clear view of the Amrit Kaal for the next 25 years. The Opposition met in Patna on June 23. The same day, the PM was in America. He was busy ensuring various defence deals, semiconductor…The “defence” deal in Patna was to cover up each other’s corruption in various scams…It was to defend their corruption and families…” said Trivedi.

When asked who is the leader of the united Opposition, Tewari said, “The essence of any democracy is change. It brings about renewal, regeneration and rejuvenation of democratic experiment. The principle of any functional democracy it should be amenable to a regular change of government…When you talk about alliances, there is a meeting in Bengaluru. There is another meeting of the 30 parties of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in New Delhi too. Two contrasting alliances. If the BJP would have been so comfortable, there wouldn’t have been panic, which is on the level of paranoia, to recreate the NDA which they didn’t do over the past nine years. The Opposition is coming together to offer a principled, democratic alternative to the country…Over the past nine years, over the charges hurled at the UPA, how many convictions have happened?…There would be a common minimum programme, a leadership as we travel on the road to 2024…”

When asked about the reason behind taking Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar on board the Maharashtra government, Trivedi said, “What happened in Maharashtra was solely an internal matter of the NCP, same with the Shiv Sena…There is not an iota of democracy…It is to be decided firmly from birth that this person is to lead the party and then they become champions of democracy. The first coalition government which completed its full term was led by Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji…The first government, other than the Congress, which got a full majority was the BJP in 2014 and 2019. We have created a paradigm shift. From international ties…to schemes…is the change we have brought about.”

When asked what the Opposition was offering, Tewari recounted the failed alliances of the BJP, adding, “We broke the natural and strategic ally paradigm in 1989 itself. When the global reset was initiated by the then Congress government in 1991 after the collapse of Eastern Europe and the erstwhile Soviet Union…We reached out and reset relation with the US, while maintaining ties with Russia.”

“The difficulty with the BJP is that it feels that history started on May 23, 2014, but it started long time before. State craft and diplomacy have continuums. The reset with the US was initiated by Jaswant Singh under Vajpayee government, the NSSP was done by the then NDA-BJP government…Dr Manmohan Singh’s government picked up the ball and got the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, a paradigm unmatched since then…In certain areas, governments rise above parties’ differences… The Opposition is going to offer an alternative vision for development of India, which promotes equity, which reduces the gross income inequality…The fundamental principle where democracy thrives is income equality… It would be one of the priorities of the Opposition,” said Tewari.

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, top policymakers and leaders discuss elections manifesto, strategies and policies at CNN-News18 Town Hall. This year’s theme, ‘Exploring India’s Path to 2024 Elections’, looks to understand how political parties plan to get the attention of the voters for the next general elections.

The discussions revolve around various topics such as policies, manifestos, and strategies employed by each party. Through this discourse, the event aims to gauge preparations of participating parties for the General Elections.