Opposition expresses solidarity with disqualified Rahul but will Congress walk the talk now?

New Delhi: The entire opposition has come out and condemned in one voice the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha.

Even the Congress party's bitter political rivals within the opposition grouping such as West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee, her Telangana counterpart and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal rallied behind Rahul Gandhi, terming the move as "a black day in Indian democracy" and the "murder of democracy".

The opposition leaders attacked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its "dictatorship" and vowed to fight the ruling party.

In response, the Congress said the time has come for the grand old party to take on the job of building the opposition unity in a "systematic way".

Perhaps it took Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification to make Congress realise this. Still, it seems to be a tough ask given that Congress till now has been the biggest stumbling block in the opposition unity. Its big-brother attitude has played a spoiler on many occasions in the past.  

Sample this: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar last month said that he was waiting for a signal from the Congress to work towards bringing all opposition parties together.

The Congress snubbed Nitish Kumar, insisting that it was well aware of its role and does not need lessons from anyone.  

The remarks clearly smacked of arrogance and as a result, Nitish Kumar initiated talks with seven opposition leaders, including six other chief ministers. Apart from Nitish Kumar, the group, named G-8, included Mamata Banerjee, KCR, Kejriwal, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, his Jharkhand and Punjab counterparts Hemant Soren and Bhagwant Mann respectively.

Besides, Congress did not side with KCR when his daughter K Kavitha was summoned for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. The grand old party appeared upbeat when AAP leader Manish Sisodia was arrested in the alleged liquor scam.  

For her part, Mamata Banerjee had in the recent past met opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy, to forge a united grouping, excluding the Congress. She also met Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik whose Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has been friends with the BJP in and outside Parliament.

Mamata Banerjee’s message was loud and clear – that she does not want the ‘big brother’ Congress to be a part of this formation.  

But Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification seems to have brought all the opposition parties together – at least for now.  

It now remains to be seen if the Congress has learned the lessons from the past and is ready to launch a serious effort to unite all the opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.  

Being the main opposition party, the onus of reaching out to other opposition parties and bringing them on one platform lies completely on Congress.