Top leaders of as many as 26 opposition parties are likely to attend a two-day brainstorming session in Bengaluru from Monday to formulate their strategy for a united fight against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, according to sources.
On the eve of the meeting it was holding, the Congress made it clear that it would oppose the Delhi Services Ordinance in Parliament, a key condition the Aam Aadmi Party had set for participating in the talks.
Fifteen parties participated in the latest opposition unity meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on 23 June. “This time we expect leaders of 26 parties,” the source said. The opposition meeting also comes against the backdrop of a split between the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the panchayat polls in West Bengal that saw widespread violence that claimed many lives with state units of the Congress and Left parties blaming the TMC government. oppression.
Sources said that the opposition parties will chalk out a joint agitation plan across the country against the BJP’s policies, especially after the NCP splits in Maharashtra.
BJP president JP Nadda claimed that the opposition parties were in the process of forming an alliance to “protect” their dynastic politics. The proposed coalition is not a “Patriotic Democratic Alliance” but a “Dynasty Protection Alliance”, he said in Jaipur.
CPI general secretary D Raja said the two-day session would go a step further in demonstrating the opposition’s collective resolve to defeat the BJP. “The meeting in Bengaluru will be another step forward in uniting the secular and democratic parties to defeat the BJP and save the nation and democracy,” Raja told.
This time, Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi is also likely to attend the meeting. Other top leaders including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, TMC chief minister and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar chief minister and JDU leader Nitish Kumar, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin , JMM Leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal along with former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray are expected to attend.
“Today, the Congress party has clarified its stand against the Delhi Ordinance. We welcome the announcement. Along with this, AAP will attend the opposition meeting in Bengaluru,” said AAP leader Raghav Chadha.
The two-day session will begin with a dinner meeting hosted by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and another formal meeting on Tuesday, after which he is expected to cement his unity plans and announce his next agenda.
The senior leader said that the opposition parties will have to settle their differences if they have to take on the strength of the BJP.
The BJP claimed that it was a meeting of a “fractured” opposition and that “desperation and confusion” had gripped the Congress and its central leadership was going against state units.
“The disunited Congress holding a fragmented ‘Opposition Meet’ in Bengaluru should first explain the differences within the Congress.
“On the Delhi Service Ordinance issue: Punjab Congress Mr. Pratap Bajwa categorically said that “AAP does not deserve the support of the Congress”. Congress chief Mr. Maken said that “Congress should not support AAP”.
“Today Cong Secy General KC Venugopal says, ‘Congress is not for Ordinance-support AAP’. Congress is gripped by political despair and confusion,” BJP spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill tweeted. He alleged that the Congress had become a “spare wheel” of the AAP.
“Hatred of PM Modi” is the only glue for opposition unity. No agenda, no ideology and no leader – only lust for power,” said the BJP leader.
