The Opposition parties are likely to meet on January 13 to formulate a common position and strategy on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. The Congress is organising the meeting and has reached out to like-minded parties.
So far, a majority of protests against the amended Citizenship Act have been from the civil society with occasional participation from the political class. The meeting comes on the heels of the recent victory of the Opposition parties in the Maharashtra and the Jharkhand Assembly polls.
“The CAA, which will be followed by the NRC, will destroy the very fabric of our country, and we need to come together to counter such nefarious plans of the government,” a senior Opposition leader said.
Weak position
The Opposition parties also feel that the spontaneous protests across the country against the controversial legislation have left the government on a weak spot.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to make a tactical retreat when he said his government did not talk about the NRC since 2014 and it is not on the table. This despite his deputy and Home Minister Amit Shah repeatedly asserting that the NRC will follow the CAA,” another Opposition leader said.
Sources said a majority of the parties which had opposed the legislation in Parliament were on board.
The Opposition parties are toying with ideas such as forming a permanent coordination committee which would have two members from each of them.
The Congress being the largest Opposition party will have five members. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, party’s Rajya Sabha leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary and Ahmed Patel are likely to be part of the coordination committee.
Economic issues
There will be other issues on the table, the foremost will be the state of the economy. The Opposition has unsuccessfully tried to focus the narrative on economy.
The parties, sources said, are mulling over bringing a White Paper ahead of the Union Budget highlighting the problems such as the revenue shortfall of ₹5 lakh crore in the government books, delayed GST payouts to States and “overall data fudging” by the government.
