As Opposition leaders gather in Patna to form an anti-BJP front, AAP warns: will walk out if Congress doesn’t oppose Centre’s ordinance on Delhi’s services
Opposition leaders, including Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, in Delhi
Top leaders of Opposition parties will, at a meeting here on Friday, brainstorm a roadmap for the formation of an anti-BJP front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It is being hosted by Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav of RJD.
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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Delhi counterpart and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP president Sharad Pawar, People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti are among the leaders expected to attend the first high-level Opposition meeting.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya have also agreed to be part of the meeting.
Who may not attend
Telangana-based Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the Biju Janata Dal of Odisha, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the YSR Congress Party are among the non-BJP parties that are likely to give the meeting a miss. Sources said a basic outline and roadmap for Opposition unity are likely to be deliberated upon, with the contentious issue of seat sharing and leadership questions to be avoided for now.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. File pics/PTI
“This is just the beginning. A meeting of minds is important. The strategy, leadership question and seat sharing are unlikely to be discussed at this stage,” a senior Opposition leader said on condition of anonymity.
AAP’s warning
With all eyes on the meeting, Kejriwal would be strongly pitching for a discussion on the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi. Party sources said the AAP “will walk out of the meeting if the Congress does not promise its support against the ordinance”.
The Congress has so far kept its stand ambiguous as to whether it would support the AAP or not when the ordinance is put to test in Parliament by the BJP-led Centre. Kejriwal on Tuesday expressed hope that the Congress will clear its stand on the Centre’s ordinance at the June 23 meeting.
The meeting also comes amid fissures in the Opposition ranks with Congress’ leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sitting on a dharna outside a block office in Bengal’s Murshidabad district demanding action against the activists of the ruling Trinamool Congress who allegedly attacked Congress workers in the run-up to the panchayat polls in the state. The BJP has been taking swipes at the Opposition over differences within its ranks.
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