MK Stalin to lead opposition leaders meeting in hybrid mode

DMK president Stalin, who launched AIFSJ in February 2022, will deliver the presidential address from Chennai online.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin will on Monday inaugurate the first national conference of the All India Federation for Social Justice, an initiative of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam that will see the participation of leaders from 19 opposition parties.

MK Stalin set to inaugurate first national conference of All India Federation for Social Justice on Monday. (HTPhoto)

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot of the Congress party, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashvi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference and Trinamool Congress MP Derek O Brien will speak at the event titled Taking Forward the Struggle for Social Justice and Joint National Programme for Social Justice Movement.

The conference will be conducted on a hybrid mode, in Delhi and on Zoom.

DMK president Stalin, who launched AIFSJ in February 2022, will deliver the presidential address from Chennai online. The idea is to provide a common platform for like-minded leaders, politicians, activists, organisations and the civil society to unite, a DMK leader said, declining to be named.

The conference also aims to be a platform for these members to create a road map to take forward principles of social justice in India and bring about a common minimum programme to be uniformly adopted by all states, he said.

The Aam Aadmi Party has nominated parliamentarian Sanjay Singh to address the conference. Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti’s K Keshava Rao will give a special address. DMK’s allies will also speak.

Last month, non-Bharatiya Janata Party leaders had flown down to celebrate Stalin’s 70th birthday on March 1, where they collectively pitched for an opposition alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Stalin had said that everyone must ditch their ego to fight the BJP unitedly and talks of a third front is pointless. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashvi Yadav echoed the sentiments.

In February 2022, Stalin had written to 37 leaders, stating that they need to unite to fight the threat of bigotry and religious hegemony and asked each party to nominate a representative to the AIFSJ.