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Opposition tries to put up united front after Patna meet amid AAP-Congress fissures
Leaders largely agreed to field a joint candidate against the BJP in as many seats as possible and create a common ideological platform.
Patna Thirty-two leaders from 15 Opposition parties came together at a mega meeting in Patna on Friday and all but one outfit vowed to jointly take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and forge a common agenda, marking a significant political development ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The chief ministers of Delhi and Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, attended the event with the former saying “nation first, party later”, but the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) struck a discordant note later, and said it will be difficult for the party to attend future meetings if the Congress didn’t make its stance clear on a controversial ordinance that gave the Centre control over Delhi’s bureaucracy.
Read: BJP's 'AAP blackmailing Congress' dig at Opposition after unity efforts in Patna
Leaders from parties — who control 210 seats in Parliament and control 11 states — attended the three-hour-long meeting at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s residence. At a joint press conference later, Kumar said that the meeting was fruitful.
“We have arrived at a consensus on going forward together and on fighting elections together. In the next meeting, we will decide how the parties will fight from their strongholds,” the Bihar chief minister added.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge echoed his sentiment. “All the Opposition leaders want to fight together on a common agenda. We will meet in Shimla on July 10 or 12 and prepare it. We will be fighting the 2024 election together to defeat the BJP and we are hopeful that we will be successful,” he said.
Kejriwal and Mann skipped the press conference.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, who tweeted, “the war cry of a united opposition is from here, the land of social justice, to end this fascist, autocratic regime and allow the rebirth of a secular, democratic India”, also didn’t attend the presser.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who suggested Patna as the venue for a meeting, said the parties had decided to remain united, fight the BJP together and meet again in Shimla. “The BJP wants to change history, but we will ensure history is saved,” she said.
Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of weakening the country’s democratic institutions and curbing freedom of speech. “We all stand united. We may have small differences, but we have decided to work together with flexibility and we will protect the ideology we share,” he said at the press conference.
Even as the press conference was on, the AAP released a statement criticising the Congress for not making its stance clear on the ordinance — promulgated by the Centre last month — which effectively rolled back a Supreme Court judgment.
“The Congress, a national party that takes a stand on almost all issues, is yet to make public its position on the black ordinance… In the meeting, many parties urged the Congress to publicly denounce the ordinance but the Congress refused to do so,” said the statement. “It is high time that Congress decides whether it stands with the people of Delhi or the Modi government,” the AAP added.
The BJP dismissed the meeting. “All I want to say to these opposition leaders is that your unity is nearly impossible and even if it gets real, please come in front of the people as in 2024, Modi’s return with 300 plus seats is confirmed,” Union home minister Amit Shah said in Jammu.
The meeting marked the formal beginning of Opposition efforts to take on the BJP ahead of the 2024 general elections. Leaders aware of developments said that the parties had largely agreed to field a joint candidate against the BJP in as many seats as possible and create a common ideological platform. If this happens, this will be the first time in decades that parties have come together at the national level to take on the ruling party.
The meeting that was attended by six chief ministers began at 12 noon and also saw sparks fly between the AAP and Congress. Kejriwal insisted that the Congress clarify its stand on the Delhi ordinance but Kharge maintained that any such decision couldn’t be taken immediately as the Congress was yet to discuss it in its parliamentary party meeting. “We have a system in place,” Kharge said, according to the leaders quoted above.
At least two Opposition leaders said that Kejriwal did not threaten to walk out of the meeting but insisted that the ordinance issue was important for the AAP. “Mamata Banerjee played the referee and suggested that Congress leaders and Kejriwal sit over a cup of tea and discuss the issue… she also suggested that instead of focusing on the ordinance, the meeting must focus on positive issues,” said a senior Opposition leader, requesting anonymity.
The meeting is important as it is the most significant effort by Opposition parties in several years to forge a common platform at the national level. But to take on the BJP effectively in 2024, it will have to build an ideological counter, stitch together a seat-sharing framework that minimises intra-opposition contests, and reconcile the competing ambitions of party leaders.
The meeting also saw the return of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Prasad to the national political scene. “PM Modi is distributing sandalwood in the US when the country is facing problems. I’m fit now, I can take him on,” he said, referring to the PM’s ongoing US visit.
Banerjee hit out at the BJP over a number of issues, accusing the Centre of misusing Raj Bhavans and weaponising federal agencies to attack dissenters. “They (the BJP) also send lawyers and file cases leading to CBI, ED action. But they don’t talk about unemployment, the disastrous situation of the economy, lack of money for central schemes. If BJP wins again, India will be destroyed.”
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said the meeting showed the way forward. “Just like JP movement, our united front will get blessings of public,” Pawar said.
Among the Left leaders, Sitaram Yechury said the BJP was trying to change the secular democratic character of India and added that the united Opposition “will undertake many joint programmes”.
Litti-chokha, gulab jamun, jalebis, different sharbats, and other traditional dishes of Bihar were served to the leaders during lunch. “All traditional food items from Bihar were served in the lunch hosted by Nitish ji … I thank him,” said Rahul Gandhi.
