All India Congress Committee's senior observer for the 2022 Goa Assembly polls P Chidambaram on Thursday backed Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut's call urging the Congress party to take the lead in uniting all United Progressive Alliance partners with the objective of defeating the BJP in the 2024 general elections.
Speaking at a press conference in Panaji on Thursday, Chidambaram also said that if Congress comes to power in the 2024 general elections, the party would plug the existing loopholes in the anti-defection law, which the former Union Finance Minister described as "defective" legislation.
"I read Sanjay Raut's statement. I think he has made a very responsible statement. What he says is, we need a non-BJP opposition in the country and the Congress party must take the lead and bring together all the UPA parties. I think that is a very sensible statement. I fully agree with Sanjay Raut," Chidambaram said.
"We are running a mini-UPA in Maharashtra under Uddhav Thackeray's leadership. So we should have a similar arrangement at the central level... I told Rahul Gandhi - invite everybody. People won't just come and join. If there is a wedding or function, we have to send invitations," Raut told a private news channel earlier on Thursday.
Chidambaram also said lauded Raut's outreach to the Congress party, urging the latter to take the initiative in bringing the UPA parties together.
"UPA is not led by Congress. The old UPA is still there. CPI, CPI M, DMK, NCP, RJD. UPA is still there. Raut's suggestion is all the erstwhile UPA parties must come together again and Congress should take initiative, which I think is the correct statement," Chidambaram said.
When asked if Congress would use the 2022 Goa assembly polls to put Raut's suggestion into action, Chidambaram said: "We are ready to try (but) two hands must clap". Chidambaram also called political defection a scourge, adding that Congress would look to plugging the loopholes in the existing anti-defection law if it comes to power in 2024.
"I have said in several meetings that the defection law is a defective law. This law has several loopholes which people are using. If a Congress government is formed in 2024, certainly those loopholes would be removed," Chidambaram said.
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