No benefit out of opposition unity ahead of 2024 LS polls, says Ghulam Nabi Azad

Former union minister and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said that the opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will not yield any resultsAzad who floated his own Democratic Progressive Azad Party DPAP was not invited to meeting of opposition parties called by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish KumarOpposition unity will benefit only when there is something for both sides There may be a difference in the share of benefits for the two it can be 5050 or 6040 but in this case both sides have nothing to offer to the other he saidReferring to West Bengal Azad pointed out that the Congress and the Communist Party of India Marxist have no MLA in the state and wondered that just in case the two parties forge an alliance with the Mamata Banerjeeled Trinamool Congress TMC what does the latter stand to gainWhy would Banerjee enter into an alliance What benefit will she get out of it Similarly the TMC has no MLA in Rajasthan Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh What would the Congress give her in these states Nothing he saidSimilarly the Congress does not have a single legislator in Andhra Pradesh the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister pointed out adding that the ruling YSRCP in the southern state led by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has no MLA anywhere elseWhat will the Congress give to him Reddy and what will he give to the Congress party he wondered while asserting that opposition unity is nothing but a good photo opportunityAlso readIt is unconstitutional says CPIMs Sitaram Yechury extends support to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Centres ordinanceThe former Union minister however clarified that he wants the opposition to unite to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP in next years general electionBut unfortunately each opposition party has nothing in other states than their own It would have been beneficial if twothree parties had formed governments in an alliance in the statesThere will be no difference whether there is a prepoll or a postpoll alliance They will get the same number of seats in a prepoll alliance as well as in a postpoll alliance I see higher chances of an alliance in the postelection scenario he saidThe ground situation is such that if the opposition parties win 300 seats in a prepoll alliance they would get the same number of seats even if there was no alliance the former Congress leader addedHe credited the leadership of the Congress in various states for the partys recent electoral triumphsI have said the Congress has suffered losses at the Centre not in the states Wherever there is a strong state leadership the party is bouncing back The only difference is that previously the central leadership used to run the states and now the state leadership runs the central leadershipThe central leadership has lost ground but the state leaders are defending their turf So there is zero truth if someone says the Congress is winning the state elections because of the central leadership Azad saidHe demanded compensation for the losses incurred due to an earthquake in Doda district of the Jammu regionWe have information that in Gundoh and Bhaderwah tehsils some schools hospitals and houses have suffered damage It is a matter of concern We hope that there are no more tremorsI request the government to organise classes for the students outside and not inside the school buildings Similarly at hospitals patients in a critical condition should be placed where there has been no impact of the quake Azad said PTI