Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has said that a formidable alliance of opposition parties can be stitched together to defeat the BJP and free India from the "reign of fear" in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Chidambaram, however, avoided directly answering a question on the leadership issue or who would be the prime ministerial candidate of the alliance, saying it is a premature question.

"Let us form the alliance and let the elections take place. All of you want to know the answer even before the script is written," he said. The former finance minister said the most important issue on which all opposition parties agree to is that the saffron party should be defeated.

"On that point, there is a convergence of views in many states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, etc. That convergence will bring together opposition parties and alliances will be formed state-wise," Chidambaram told PTI in an interview here.
He said for the first time, "we are witnessing a sense of fear" among a large section of people in the country. "The Dalits live in fear, the Muslims live in fear, the women live in fear, the press live in fear," he said.