PM must form national coalition of opinion makers for post-lockdown situation: Ashwini Kumar

Former Union law minister Ashwani Kumar has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to form a national coalition of opinion makers and political mobilizers to suggest measures for tackling the coronavirus situation and ending lockdown.

He said the Centre and the opposition should come together to offer the most effective solutions to fight humanity's battle for survival while rising above partisan considerations.

"This is the time to vindicate peoples' trust in their leaders and in our political processes," Kumar told PTI.

"The prime minister must take the initiative to invite top leaders of major political parties to be part of a deliberative decision making process, which can forge the broadest political consensus to tackle the crisis due to the pandemic," he said.

"A national coalition of opinion makers and political mobilizers for this purpose will give hope to people in distress," he said.

Kumar's call comes in the wake of Modi making a fervent appeal to all parties to unitedly fight the battle against coronavirus.

The Congress has been making suggestions to the Centre regarding the exit strategy for the ongoing lockdown and resolving the problems of the poor, migrant workers and the MSME sector.

On reports of friction between some states and the central government over the fight against COVID-19, the senior Congress leader said the differences should be resolved through dialogue in such trying times.

"The present conflict situation in West Bengal and the simmering differences in approach between the Centre and other states need to be addressed not through confrontation, but through meaningful and civilized conversations," he said.

"This is the minimum legitimate expectation of our trusting people who look to elevating leadership in these defining moments," Kumar added.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had recently claimed that she was kept in "dark" about the visit of central teams to the state to assess the COVID-19 situation. She also accused the Centre of violating the spirit of federalism.