Former NCP leader Tariq Anwar on Monday described the current political situation in the country as similar to 2004 when there was "talk of lack of unity" among opposition parties but they still managed to upstage the BJP in Lok Sabha elections.
The Katihar MP, who recently quit the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), over differences with its chief Sharad Pawar, told reporters that efforts are on to forge an alliance of opposition parties to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance(NDA).
Asked about the BJP's criticism that the opposition was unable to decide on a prime ministerial candidate ahead of the 2019 polls, Anwar asserted that it was a "non-issue".
"The current political situation is like 2004 when amid the talk of lack of unity, 'Shining India' campaign and absence of a prime ministerial candidate vis a vis Atal Bihar Vajpayee, people voted for opposition parties and Congress-led UPA came to power at the Centre," Anwar said
On the issue of prime ministerial candidate, he said, "But it is a non-issue. BJP should not worry. Opposition parties will take care of it."
Anwar expressed concern over what he called "growing religious intolerance" in the country and said there is need to re-establish values of communal harmony and brotherhood championed by Mahatma Gandhi in his 150th birth centenary year.
All India Qaumi Tanzeem, presided by Anwar, will hold a national integration conclave in Delhi, on Tuesday, in which former Vice President Hamid Ansari and several political leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sharad Yadav, Manoj Jha, Meira Kumar and Sitaram Yechury will participate, he said.
The BJP has not been invited to the event because it is a "communal outfit", Anwar said.
The Tanzeem will hold around 150 public meetings across the country to strengthen communal harmony, he said.
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