Opposition will be united after Lok Sabha polls: M Veerappa Moily

Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said on March 26 opposition parties may not have come together to fight the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections in all states but would join hands post-poll to form a government.

The former union minister said he was not at all disappointed that the opposition alliance to take on the BJP has not materialised in some states. "...idea-wise, spirit-wise, they (opposition parties) are all united against (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. Common agenda is: he (Modi) should go", Moily said and claimed the opposition would form government.

The Congress has strong presence in many states, where the party has no option but to fight other parties which are also opposed to the BJP, according to him. He cited the political landscape in Kerala, where the Congress-led UDF and CPI-M-anchored LDF are in direct fight, as an example to drive home his point.

"In Kerala, it's UDF versus LDF, there is no BJP at all. BJP's presence is totally negligible. There, we have to fight against each other. We cannot make alliance with LDF", Moily told PTI. On the issue of opposition alliance, the former Karnataka Chief Minister argued that each and every State has to be "analysed" on its own merit and one can't generalise.

"There will be pre-poll alliance in some States, post-poll alliance in some other States. Such arragement is not opposed to the principle of opposition unity", he claimed. "Common objective is to defeat BJP everywhere. There cannot be hard and fast rule in every State. It differs from State to State", Moily said.

Asked if the Left parties would join hands with the Congress after the elections, he said: "That will inevitably happen, when fighting against the BJP". On the minimum income guarantee scheme announced by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi yesterday, Moily said it's a "great way forward" towards lifting the poor out of poverty.

Asked if this announcement would pay rich electoral dividends to the Congress in the polls, he said: "Definitely. Manifesto is always taken by the people seriously. Since it's targetted at the poorest of the poor, they look forward with lot of expectations. It's not an election stunt".