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Opposition sets sights on joint front for 2024 after Congress’s poll win
The JD(U) is keen to see Nitish Kumar be appointed convener of the grouping to take on the BJP in 2024 LS polls
Leaders from at least 12 political parties are expected to meet in Patna in next “eight to 10” days to decide on a common opposition front to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday, a day after the Congress swept the Karnataka assembly elections.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who has called on leaders of several opposition and regional parties over the past two months as part of his initiative to forge a united coalition, had already announced that the meeting would be called after the conclusion of the assembly elections in Karnataka.
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“Right now, the Congress’ top leadership is busy with government formation in Karnataka. Once it is done in a few days, the dates for the opposition meet will be finalised in consultation with leaders of the Congress and other parties,” said a senior leader from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), an ally of Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) in Bihar’s ruling coalition.
Senior JD(U) leader and Bihar finance minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said the date and venue of the proposed meeting will be decided in the next few days. “We are in discussion with partners for the proposed meeting to form a bigger alliance. The date will be finalised soon.”
The JD(U) is keen to see Nitish Kumar be appointed convener of the grouping to take on the BJP in the next year’s general elections, a second JD(U) leader said, asking not to be named.
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RJD chief and former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad is also expected to attend the meeting, which could be his first major political engagement since his return to Patna on April 28 having spent over nine months away from his home state. Leaders of JD(U) and RJD did not rule out the meeting taking place at Prasad’s Patna residence.
A third JD (U) leader familiar with the developments said that a broad outline of the grouping would be discussed at the meeting. “We already have an agreement with major political parties on fight for social justice and demanding caste census from the central government,” this person added, requesting anonymity.
Nitish Kumar has been negotiating with various parties ever since he severed ties with the BJP and formed the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar in alliance with the RJD, Congress and smaller partners, including the Communist parties.
The push to forge a united opposition coalition is set to gain momentum after the Congress swept the Karnataka elections, winning 135 out of the total 224 seats. Several opposition leaders such as Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee cited the Karnataka results to say that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP was not “invincible”.
As part of his initiative, Nitish Kumar has already met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Bannerjee.
He has also called on Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray in the past few days and invited them for the opposition meeting.
Leaders from the Congress, RJD, JD(U), TMC, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Samajwadi Party, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), DMK, AAP, CPI, CPI(M), and CPI-ML (Liberation) are likely to attend the meeting, along with a few smaller parties that are also opposed to the BJP, grand alliance leaders said.
A senior NCP leader said party chief Pawar is expected to attend the opposition meeting. “Pawarsaheb is expected to attend the meeting representing our party. Other national leaders of the party like Praful Patelji will accompany him if more than one leader per party is expected to attend the meeting,” said Sunil Tatkare, NCP MP from Raigad. “The meeting… is to chalk out the strategy for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said his party will participate in the meeting . Another party leader said Uddhav Thackeray will be part of the meeting.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Yadav said party’s national president Akhilesh Yadav will take a call on the meeting when the invitation comes. “He has a very good relationship with Nitish ji who also had come to meet Akhilesh ji in Lucknow.”
TMC state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said the party will “surely” participate in the meeting, reiterating party chief Mamata Banerjee’s request to Nitish Kumar “to host a meeting of all opposition parties in his home state to give shape to a united Opposition against PM Modi-led BJP”.
However, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammed Salim pointed out that the TMC, Samajwadi Party and Aam Aadmi Party have been trying to forge a non-CPI(M), non-Congress alliance.
“They wanted the BJD [Biju Janata Dal] to be part of it but Naveen Patnaik declined. Such an alliance will only give advantage to the BJP,” Salim said. “CPI(M) has opposed the idea. We are always willing to be part of an open anti-BJP platform.”
BJP state president Samrat Choudhary, however, termed the opposition unity a “myth”
“Nitish Kumar is moving around the country to distract attention. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik showed him his place. The Opposition unity is a myth. No regional leader of substance will allow Nitish the space he wants,” Choudhary said. “Trust deficit with Nitish Kumar is the biggest handicap, as is the absence of a unanimous leader against a proven Narendra Modi.”
Political experts believe that the attempt to forge a united coalition is borne out of the realisation by opposition parties that there isn’t much anti-incumbency against PM Modi yet.
“The BJP’s win in 2014 was seen more as a fluke by regional parties whereas in 2019, they assumed that anti-incumbency would lead to BJP’s defeat. But now, ahead of 2024, there is a perception growing among anti-BJP parties that they need to put up resistance or else they would be rolled over again if they maintained a status-quoist approach of doing nothing,” said Rakesh Tiwary, a social scientist associated with AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, Patna. “It is like many Davids are collaborating to take on the mighty Goliath.”
The success of opposition unity would depend on the cohesion among various partners as there is still lot of contradiction among regional forces, he added.
