"Elephant Waking Up": Congress Cites Yatra To Claim Driving Seat In Opposition Unity

Day after Tejashwi Yadav suggests Congress should give up driving seat at least in some regions, Congress says won't let itself be weakened

Calling the Congress an "elephant" that's now "waking up", and "an important pillar of Opposition unity", party leader Jairam Ramesh had some clear signals for regional parties on who can lead an anti-BJP front in the 2024 Lok Sabha contest. 

He didn't name anyone. But his statements come when regional parties have shown little inclination to simply rally behind the Congress. Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, who recently returned as Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, has questioned the Congress's "driving" skills in at least some regions. "Congress should fight the seats where it is in a direct fight with BJP, but wherever regional parties are stronger, as in Bihar, it should let us sit in the driving seat," he said the day before. 

But Mr Ramesh, at a press conference on the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' (Unite India March) yesterday, stressed that Opposition unity "does not mean weakening the Congress". "Our allies should also understand," he said, "that we will not allow ourselves to be weakened further."  

"I am happy that after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, everybody has seen that the elephant has awakened, the elephant is moving forward, and all parties are seeing what the Congress is doing," he claimed.