The India Alliance, during a meeting on Monday, demanded the resignation of Central Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and decided to hold bi-monthly meetings starting from August in Hyderabad, the capital of Congress-ruled Telangana.
The meeting, held at the Constitution Club near the Parliament building, was organized with additional initiative by Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee. Her party rented the Constitution Club for the meeting.
At the meeting, Forward Bloc's National Secretary G Devarajan, under the banner of the 'Cockroach Janata Party' (CJP), raised the issue of the young generation's frustration. He stated that the new generation has taken to the streets against unemployment, NEET exam paper leaks, and CBSE exam corruption, demanding the resignation of the Education Minister. He urged the India Alliance to stand with these young people and support their demands.
Supporting Devarajan's recommendation, National Conference leader from Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, said that the alliance should join the Gen-Z's frustration and demand the Education Minister's resignation on behalf of the alliance. He emphasized the need to show the youth that the opposition stands with them.
Following Devarajan and Omar Abdullah's proposal, the India Alliance on Monday demanded the resignation of the Central Education Minister. The Congress had been making this demand separately for a long time.
There are various opinions in the political circle about the 'Cockroach' movement. The BJP believes that the movement has the support of Pakistan and American billionaire George Soros. A section of the Congress believes that some of them have the support of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), as the founder of the CJP, Abhijit Dip, and one of its spokespersons, Ashutosh Ranka, were once associated with the AAP.
However, Devarajan and Omar Abdullah argue that not supporting the youth's demand when they start a movement against the government would be foolish.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accepted this argument. He said that when he was proving the 'vote theft' allegation against the Election Commission, he was alone. The members of the India Alliance did not come forward in his support. Now, everyone understands how the BJP and the Election Commission are stealing votes and defeating the opposition, and how the EVMs have been tampered with.
At Monday's meeting, it was decided that the India Alliance would write a letter to the Chief Justice of India regarding the EVMs and vote theft remedy. Mamata wanted the alliance representatives to go to the commission and plead, but Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and lawyer Kapil Sibal favored writing a letter.
It was also decided at Monday's meeting to increase the alliance's floor coordination in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. Regular meetings will be held at Mallikarjun Kharge's office in Parliament House during the session.
Although the India Alliance is united at the central level, there is a lack of coordination among the members at the state level. This was also discussed at the meeting.
In Tamil Nadu, the Congress leaning towards TVK after letting go of DMK has caused friction between the two parties. Kharge said that it is necessary to understand why and under what circumstances this had to be done. If there are any misunderstandings, they should be resolved through discussion.
Members like Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav said that the Congress is a big party. Local leaders need to be more considerate to maintain the alliance's unity at the state level as well as at the central level.
At the meeting, all the members believed that the country is currently going through an extreme financial crisis. The India Alliance demanded that the government call an all-party meeting to resolve the crisis.
