Congress leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said regional parties that broke away from the Congress should rejoin its ranks, a day after Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut suggested that the merger be headed by Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Sharad Pawar.
“All those parties which became regional parties after separating from the Congress should rejoin and should accept Rahul Gandhi wholeheartedly as the leader,” Gehlot said while talking to reporters.
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His remarks come after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut urged the merger of regional parties with the Congress.
Raut, while speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said parties like the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), which were formed after their leaders walked out of the Congress, should return to the fold to form an alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Raut on Thursday suggested that NCP chief Sharad Pawar lead the process of merging smaller parties with the same ideology as the Congress party.
“If this (Congress) ideology comes together, it will pose a big challenge to (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. Pawar should take initiative on this,” he said.
Gehlot expressed his support for Raut’s proposal the next day.
“I think what Sanjay Raut said is justified. The time has come. The battle now is to save democracy. When we are all on the battlefield fighting to save democracy, I support what Sanjay Raut said,” he said.
He urged regional parties to accept Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as leader of the Inclusive Indian National Development Alliance (INDI), adding that the “clear” message of a common political leader would lead to a change in voting patterns across the country.
“They (voters) see Narendra Modi on one side and Rahul Gandhi on the other side. If there is a clear message that all political parties have accepted Rahul Gandhi as their leader, you will see that the voting pattern in the country will change,” Gehlot said.
He also said that while parties like the Shiv Sena, Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPI(M), which have always been separate from the Congress, cannot be “demanded” or “induced”, he also has “no grievance” against independently formed parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) which are not contemplating the move.
