New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid has expressed displeasure over the recent split within the Shiv Sena (UBT), while emphasising the need for opposition unity, stressing that if democracy is not secured at present, then “all of us can just pack up and leave and go home.”
Speaking to ANI, Khurshid termed the development a “regretful” matter and a step towards “destroying” democracy. He also highlighted the declining importance of the anti-defection law under these circumstances, saying that the judiciary has been harsh towards implementing the legislation; however, the overall picture of the matter is “vague” and “ambiguous.”
“We have to understand that there will, perforce, be a natural leader. Now, how much that natural leader accommodates others is for negotiation, it is for persuasion, it is for our wisdom. But there will be a natural leader… If we are not able to secure democracy, then there is nothing to secure, nothing left for us at all. All of us can just pack up and leave and go home,” said Salman Khurshid.
“Those who are leaving parties that they have vouched for in such vigorous terms and passionate commitment, leaving those parties just because they’ve lost power in the state, and those who are enticing them and trying to win them over–I think it’s an extremely, extremely regretful matter, destroying our democracy completely,” Khurshid said.
“We’ve got an anti-defection law, but nobody seems to give any value to the anti-defection law. Courts have tried to implement it; one or two benches have been tough, even on the speakers, when the speakers have not taken rapid response to something like this happening. But the overall picture is very, very vague and very ambiguous,” he added.
The former Union Minister further called the recent splits within several political parties a challenge for the opposition and emphasised the importance of unity if the situation is meant to be countered. He further recalled the opposition unity in the 2024 elections, where every party came together against the BJP; however, he also cited its rise back to power after several opposition parties decided “to go their own path.”
“There’s a huge challenge for the opposition. If we want to put an end to what is happening today, and if we are displeased with what is happening today, the opposition parties have to all come together. We came together for 2024; we came together, but then some of the parties that came together decided to go their own path. And as a result, we see what we see today. Now they’re trying to converge back, to come together once again. But some fundamental principles have to be accepted and understood. The fundamental principle is that we combine to give each other strength, not combine to take strength and not give strength,” said Khurshid.
These developments follow the departure of six out of nine Shiv Sena (UBT) Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena this past Monday, marking a significant further fragmentation under Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership following the initial 2022 split.
Simultaneously, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is facing an internal revolt led by Ritabrata Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. As a result, 60 MLAs have formed a breakaway faction in the West Bengal assembly claiming to be the “real TMC,” while 20 of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs have merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India. (ANI)
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