In an effort to take on the government on the price rise and fuel price increase, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Left parties today called for a nationwide strike on July 5.
Although the Left and non-Left parties have called for the shutdown independent of each other, the date is the same, which suggests there was some informal consultation between the NDA and Left and non-Left partners. On the ground, the two groups are bitterly opposed to each other but appear to have sunk their differences on the issues of price rise and fuel price increase.
The 12-hour strike will demand a rollback on the fuel price increase.
Such was the ‘coordination’ in political action that Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav said this was the first real instance of Opposition unity since the movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan against the government in the mid-1970s.
“There are no differences among the entire Opposition on the issue of fuel price rise. Every party has condemned it and demanded a rollback,” Yadav, who is the NDA convenor, told reporters.
BJP President Nitin Gadkari appealed to “all organisations and people who are opposing the unhealthy and wrong economic policies of the Congress-led government”, to support the ‘Bharat Bandh’.
He said the government was not only unable to check high prices but also betrayed the “trust of the common people”.
Several Opposition parties have already declared that they would raise the issue vociferously in Parliament with the monsoon session expected to begin by the end of July.
“Daam roko ya gaddi chhoro (check prices or leave the chair)”, “Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai, sabke ghar me hai mahangai (price rise affects all communities)” would be some of the Opposition’s slogans during the agitation, Yadav said.
Besides the four Left parties, the all India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Telugu Desam Party, Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal-Secular and Indian National Lok Dal “have decided to call for a country-wide hartal on July 5”, a joint statement by top leaders of CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc said here.
Yadav, who made efforts for the entire Opposition to come together for the shutdown, downplayed the non-inclusion of his party’s name and that of NDA in the Left’s statement.
