Parties that believe oppn unity minus Cong possible live in fool’s paradise: Jairam Ramesh

Kolkata: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday asserted that non-BJP parties that believe opposition unity without the grand old party as the fulcrum is possible are living in a “fool’s paradise”.

Without naming any outfit, he said many regional parties have back-stabbed the grand old party in the past to serve their own self-interests, and that such parties should stop using Congress as a punching bag.

“There cannot be any opposition unity without the Congress as its fulcrum. That is fundamental. If any non-BJP outfit thinks any alliance sans the Congress can provide a stable government for five years, it is living in a fool’s paradise. There can never be any opposition unity minus the Congress,” Ramesh said in an interview with PTI in Kolkata, where he had come to attend a party programme.