MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay raut on Saturday he called for broadening the scope of the UPA bloc led by Congress, saying that the Opposition should unite against the “dictatorial attitude” of the Center and provide a “formidable alternative” to the Narendra Modi government.
Speaking to reporters here, Raut also said that Sonia Gandhi effectively led the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) all these years and now the time has come to broaden its reach by bringing in more allies.
In response to a query about speculation that the head of the CPN, Sharad Pawar, could head the UPA, Raut said there was no shortage of leaders in the country.
“The important thing is the support of the people. Aside from Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar has the support of a representative sample of people,” he said.
“All opposition parties must unite against the dictatorial attitude of the central government. A weak opposition is bad for democracy,” said MP Rajya Sabha.
Calling the UPA and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), of which Shiv Sena was previously a part, “empty matchboxes,” Raut said that no one knows which party is part of which bloc.
Asked who should lead the UPA, Raut said: “The (interim) president of Congress, Sonia Gandhi, has led the UPA very skillfully all these years. Now is the time to expand the reach of the UPA.”
He said that many regional parties in different states had fought the BJP but are not members of the UPA yet.
“All opposition parties should come under one umbrella to provide a formidable alternative to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is strong enough,” he said.
Sena’s chief spokesperson said non-BJP governments in various states face many challenges, such as a lack of cooperation from the central government to carry out development works.
“Everyone knows what happened to the Metro car shed (in Mumbai),” he said.
The Shiv Sena heads the Maha Vikas Aghadi tripartite government (MVA) in Maharashtra, of which the NCP and Congress are also constituents.
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