Opp leaders descend on Chennai for Karuna B'day amid talk of unity

A galaxy of opposition leaders today descended on Tamil Nadu capital to attend DMK chief M Karunanidhi's 94th birthday celebrations and diamond jubilee of his legislative carrer, amid efforts to forge a broad-based alliance ahead of the presidential poll.
They heaped praise on the ailing DMK patriarch and poured scorn on BJP over the recent ban on sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets and vigilantism in the name of cow protection.
From Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, to National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, to CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, many frontline opposition leaders were present.

Though West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar skipped the event, TMC MP Derek O'Brien and NCP's Rajya Sabha member Majeed Memon deputised for their leaders. RJD chief Lalu Prasad could not attend as he was down with fever.
These leaders converged in Chennai days after the top brass of 17 parties attended a luncheon meeting hosted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on May 26 in New Delhi, the day the Modi government completed three years in office, as frantic efforts continued for a consensus on fielding a common opposition candidate for the presidential poll.
The Congress, which is at the forefront of the initiative, wants a broad-based coalition of secular parties cobbled together before the presidential election which could be extended beyond that to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

No leader of the BJP was invited.

Karunanidhi himself could not attend the celebrations as he is still recovering from a surgical procedure.
Karunanidhi's son and heir apparent M K Stalin hosted a tea party for Rahul Gandhi on the sidelines of the event where the two leaders were said to have discussed "contemporary issues".
While hailing the DMK supremo for strengthening the social justice movement, Nitish Kumar pitched for total prohibition in the state if the Dravidian party came to power in Tamil Nadu.
He said the presence of several political bigwigs at the event reflected the respect Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) commanded in national politics.

Kumar particularly lauded the DMK chief's role in implementing the Mandal Commission's recommendations on OBC reservation.
CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury went ballistic against the BJP, saying "private armies" were taking over the country and called for united efforts to face challenges posed by "political polarisation."
"Who will eat what, who will dress how, who will befriend whom, all these are going to be decided by private armies," he said.
"You have a private gaurakshak samiti (cow protection committee) that will target Dalits, target Muslims, target the Left, and the private armies are taking over this country," the CPI-M leader said, apparently targeting the Hindu far right without naming the BJP or RSS.

Then he directly hit out at the Modi government, flagging issues like farmer suicides and unemployment, and alleged that "political polarisation" was being created to "benefit one political party."
Making a pitch for opposition unity, Yechury said, "If that is the challenge we have to meet, we need to meet that challenge by coming together and strengthening the people's struggle against the policies of this government."
TMC leader Derek O'Brien also attacked the Modi government over the cattle trade restrictions, terming those "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional".
"This is a country which believes you can eat what you can eat, wear what you want. The decision on cattle ban (by the Centre) is undemocratic, unethical, unconstitutional," he said.

O'Brien, also the party spokesperson, while offering his felicitations to Karunanidhi, said there are some big issues that had already been raised by the DMK patriarch.
"The first issue, very close to his (Karunanidhi's) heart is women's reservation. We want the Women's Reservation Bill. We want it fast", he said.
Another issue raised by Karunanidhi was discrimination against transgenders, O'Brien said, adding, "it is one of the very important issues as everyone needs to be treated equally".
"The other issue raised by Kalaignar that also reflects the views of Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamataji is the protection of regional languages. Whether it is Tamil in Tamil Nadu or Bengali in Bengal, the regional language is important," he said.