Four chief ministers of non-BJP ruled states reach Patna for key opposition meet

The biggest issue before these parties would be how major national parties (in this case Congress) give importance to regional parties as most of the parties attending the meeting are confined to states

The stage is set for the key “Opposition unity meeting” on Friday with the arrival of four chief ministers of non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states.

The meeting of opposition parties has been called by the Bihar chief minister to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the BJP (File Photo)

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with Punjab chief minister Bhagwat Mann reached Patna on Thursday evening. Earlier in the day, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti, and Tamil Nadu CM and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M K Stalin also reached the state capital for the meeting.

Congress president Malikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi, National Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Udhav Thackeray, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yetchury and top leaders from various regional parties would reach Patna on Friday morning, people familiar with the matter said.

On Thursday, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary wrote to Kumar informing him that he won’t be able to participate in the opposition meeting due to a “pre-decided family programme”.

Despite his decision to skip Friday’s meet, the RLD leader expressed support for the intent behind the meet, and underlined that it is “the need of the hour that like-minded Opposition parties unite while dictatorial and communal powers have become a threat to democracy and societal harmony”.

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati will also remain absent from the meeting, who according to the Janata Dal (United) leaders has not been invited.

The meeting of opposition parties has been called by the Bihar chief minister to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the ruling BJP (at the Centre) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

In the meeting, the leaders will try to identify common issues and prepare a joint statement on the purpose of their unity, but a formal common minimum programme (CMP) might not happen anytime soon, functionaries of various political outfits said.

However, the biggest issue before these parties would be how major national parties (in this case Congress) give importance to regional parties as most of the parties attending the meeting are confined to states, added functionaries. Many regional outfits have expressed discomfort over an alliance that includes the Congress, which might hamstring efforts to forge opposition unity ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Another contentious issue that would see interest clashing in the meeting is Delhi CM Kejriwal’s letter to all opposition parties making a strong bid for a discussion on the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital area, and the Congress’s much-awaited response to it.

Kejriwal on Tuesday wrote to the opposition parties to discuss the Centre’s ordinance that effectively nullifies the Supreme Court order over control of services in Delhi while alleging that similar ordinances could be brought for other states too. He appealed to the leaders of opposition parties to discuss how to defeat the bill related to the centre’s ordinance in Rajya Sabha.

The Congress is yet to take a stand on the ordinance, and the party’s state-level leaders, especially in Delhi and Punjab, have implored the senior leadership against supporting the AAP.

Bihar’s deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday however, sidestepped queries on Kejriwal making a pitch for keeping the contentious central ordinance on top of the agenda of the June 23 opposition meeting, saying “This is not the first meeting of opposition leaders nor is it going to be the last. Leaders of different hues have agreed to meet and they will all raise issues that they feel strongly about. There is no problem with that.”

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also downplayed Kejriwal’s demand saying “It would be discussed later.”

The Trinamool Congress (TMC), meanwhile called the opposition meeting a good beginning. “A good beginning even before reaching Patna…All parties working to save the Constitution of the country are on the same page on many issues. For now, we have a date, a venue and an agreement that the head of every party will attend the meeting,” TMC’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien said.

The Bihar chief minister’s initiative to get all opposition parties on board to project a unified fight against the ruling BJP in the next year’s general elections has evoked a positive response from several regional satraps.

Kumar has been negotiating with different political parties ever since he severed ties with the BJP and formed the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government in Bihar.

Meanwhile, the BJP dismissed Kumar’s bid to unite the opposition, calling it “daydreaming” and the meeting a “joke”.

Bihar BJP chief Samrat Choudhary said that even if they all come, they together cannot match Prime Minister Narendra Modi even by half.

“They neither have a leader nor any common ground. Their sole objective is to remove Modi, as they know he is here to stay,” he said.