PATNA: Leaders of major opposition political parties on Friday resolved to unitedly challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next Lok Sabha elections and will now meet in Shimla next month to discuss further steps. On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has put a question mark on the entire exercise of opposition unity by saying that it will not attend any opposition meeting attended by the Congress until it clears its stand on the Centre’s ordinance relating to Delhi. will not be included.
AAP said that the Congress will have to decide whether it is with the people of Delhi or stands with the Modi government. The meeting, hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, was held at the Chief Minister’s residence ‘1 Anne Marg’, in which around 30 opposition leaders from 15 parties participated.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former President Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and nationalists Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar attended the meeting. DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja, Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Some other leaders also attended the meeting.
Opposition leaders addressed the media after the marathon meeting that lasted for nearly four hours, but Aam Aadmi Party convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not turn up for the press conference. Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, AAP MPs Sanjay Singh, and Raghav Chadha left Patna for Delhi immediately after the meeting. After the meeting of the opposition parties, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in a joint press conference with the opposition leaders, “It was a very good meeting to fight elections together and all kinds of agreements have been reached. There will be one more meeting. If there is a meeting, then everything will take its final shape.
He said, “Everyone will walk together, it is in the interest of the country. Those who are in power now are not working in the interest of the country. They are changing the history of the country. Indirectly referring to the Centre’s ordinance related to Delhi, Kumar said, “If there is any challenge regarding any state, everyone will be together.” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the next meeting will be held in Himachal Pradesh’s capital Shimla in the month of July. He said, “All the leaders are preparing an agenda to contest the elections together. We will all meet in Shimla soon, where the further course of action will be decided. We will unite and fight the battle of 2024 and protect democracy by removing BJP from power.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi said, “This is a fight of ideology, we stand together, we may have some differences, but we have to work together. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said, “We are one, we will fight together. There will be a meeting next month. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said that this is not a fight for power, but a fight to save democracy and the Constitution. He said, “Mehbooba Sahiba and I belong to that unfortunate part of the country where democracy is being murdered in broad daylight.
After the meeting of opposition parties, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said, “Our effort will be that we will not let Gandhi’s country become Godse’s country. Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said that in the coming days, there will be mass political programs and mass movements, and there will be electoral coordination in the states so that the BJP and communal forces do not get the benefit of the division of votes. Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said that today Patna has become a witness of political renaissance, we have to work together to save the country.
