The ‘united’ Opposition meet in Patna: Are they ready to take on PM Modi?

As many as 32 leaders from myriad Opposition parties met in Patna today (23 June) to hammer out a strategy to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming 2024 general elections. After the nearly four-hour-long huddle, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee announced that all the parties who attended the meeting will fight the Lok Sabha elections unitedly.

In a joint press conference following the meet, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Opposition leaders will meet again sometime next month in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla to further discuss the formation of the anti-BJP front.

“We have decided to prepare a common agenda and will take decisions in the next meeting on how to move forward,” he said, as per The Hindu. “We will have to evolve separate plans for every state and we will work together to dethrone the BJP at the Centre.”

#WATCH | “We will meet again in July in Shimla to prepare an agenda on how to move ahead together while working in our respective states to fight BJP in 2024,” says Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on the Opposition meeting in Patna. pic.twitter.com/cruKD6W8x8

— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2023

Which leaders were present at the Opposition meet and what did they say about the gathering? How did the BJP react? Let’s take a closer look.

15 parties attend joint Opposition meet

Around 15 Opposition parties, including the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), met at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s residence in Patna for the meeting.

As per Indian Express, besides Kharge, the TMC supremo and Janata Dal (United)’s Nitish, the other leaders present at the conclave included: Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin and TR Baalu from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK); Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal; Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule and Praful Patel; Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Raghav Chaddha and Sanjay Singh from the AAP; Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sanjay Jha and Tejashwi Yadav; Jharkhand chief minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren; Uddhav Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray); TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O’Brien and Firhad Hakim; Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, CPIM leader Sitaram Yechury; Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) leader Omar Abdullah; Peoples Democratic Party’s Mehbooba Mufti (PDP); D Raja from CPI; Dipankar Bhattacharya from the CPIML; and JDU’s Lalan Singh.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary skipped the conclave saying he had a “pre-decided family programme”.

What did Opposition leaders say?

According to News18 sources, there were no discussions about seat sharing between the parties. However, Nitish Kumar told reporters at the joint press conference that the details regarding “seat sharing and party-wise split will be finalised in the Shimla meeting”, reported NDTV.

Addressing the joint presser, Rahul Gandhi, who recently returned from the United States, said that despite the difference between the parties, they will work to “protect our ideology”.

“It is a fight of ideologies. We may have some differences but have decided to work together with flexibility to protect our ideology. This is a process, and we will keep it going,” the former Congress MP added.

Referring to the 1974 Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) movement in Bihar, the West Bengal chief minister said: “What starts from Patna becomes a jan andolan (public movement)”.

“Three things have been resolved — We are united, we will fight unitedly, and our fight shouldn’t be branded as the Opposition’s fight but rather a fight against BJP’s dictatorship and their black laws and fight their political vendetta”, NDTV quoted her as saying.

Talking to the reporters, Banerjee warned: “If this dictatorial government returns this time, there will be no elections in future”.

Hitting out at the BJP, she added, “We are united, we will fight unitedly. Do not call us the Opposition, we are patriotic and we love ‘Bharat Mata‘. We also feel pain when Manipur burns. The BJP is running a government dictatorially”.

“Let our blood flow, if need be. But we will protect our people…BJP wants history to be changed, but history will be saved from Bihar,” the TMC chief was quoted as saying by NDTV.

#WATCH | Patna, Bihar: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee during the joint opposition meeting said “We are united, we will fight unitedly…The history started from here, BJP wants that history should be changed. And we want history should be saved from Bihar. Our objective is to speak… pic.twitter.com/BB2qLgbApP

— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2023

PDP’s Mufti said the things that happened in Jammu and Kashmir are now spreading to the rest of India. “The way people are being treated, especially the minorities, we don’t want Gandhi’s nation to turn into Godse’s,” the former J&K chief minister said, as per NDTV.

Calling BJP’s nine-year rule at the Centre “disastrous for the nation”, CPI’s D Raja said: “We have to reclaim the Republic. We are of the strong view that BJP has to be defeated”.

Uddhav said that the Opposition parties have decided to defend India against anyone who “tries to attack the democratic values”, as per NDTV.

AAP’s condition

The AAP has thrown a googly to the Congress and said it would be “very difficult” for it to be a part of an alliance until the Grand Old Party denounces the Centre’s services ordinance in Delhi.

After the meeting, the AAP released a statement calling for Congress’ support against the Ordinance.

“Congress’ hesitation and refusal to act as a team player, especially on an issue as important as this one, would make it very difficult for the AAP to be a part of any alliance that includes Congress. Until the Congress publicly denounces the Black Ordinance and declares that all 31 of its RS MPs will oppose the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha, it will be difficult for AAP to participate in future meetings of like-minded parties where the Congress is a participant,” Indian Express cited the AAP statement as saying.

Notably, Kejriwal was not present at the joint press conference of the Opposition leaders.

Before the meeting, Kharge had told mediapersons that the Congress will take a call on supporting AAP against the Centre’s ordinance ahead of the next Parliament session. “We all want to fight together against BJP and our agenda is to remove the BJP government”.

#WATCH | We all want to fight together against BJP and our agenda is to remove the BJP govt… We will take a decision on this (on supporting AAP against the Centre’s ordinance) before the Parliament session, says Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as he leaves for the… pic.twitter.com/ew2Qzs2Vfq

— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2023

BJP’s attack

The BJP trained its guns at the Opposition meet, with Union home minister Amit Shah calling it a “photo session”.

“Today, a photo session is underway in Patna. All opposition leaders are gathering in one place. They want to send the message that they will challenge the NDA, BJP and PM (Narendra) Modi. I want to tell them that join as many hands as you want, your unity is never going to be a possibility,” the BJP leader said at a public rally in Jammu, as per Indian Express.

“If you get united, come before the voters, it is already decided that Modi will become prime minister in 2024 by winning more than 300 seats,” the home minister announced.

BJP MP Sushil Modi called the Opposition gathering in Patna a “gathbandhan (coalition) of thugs.”

“Sitting together for tea does not mean that the opposition is united,” Modi said. “This is a ‘Gathbandhan of Thugs’. They are preparing to fool the country. They have no principle or policy and all are involved in corruption,” he alleged.

Taking a dig at the JDU and other Opposition parties, Union minister Smriti Irani said that it is “ironic” that some of the leaders who saw the “murder of democracy” during the Emergency are now coming together with the Congress in Patna. “Power has moved from the palace to the people. That’s why people who take pride in their political legacy now have to go to those whom they had put behind bars during the Emergency,” she said, as per Indian Express.

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis alleged the Opposition huddle was not to overthrow the Narendra Modi government at the Centre but to “save their own political dynasties”.

“They have said the meeting is for ‘Modi Hatao’ (remove Modi), but they are working to protect their dynasties. Uddhav Thackeray used to criticise us for joining hands with (PDP leader) Mehbooba Mufti in Kashmir. Now he is sitting next to Mehbooba Mufti and talking about forming an alliance,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.

Terming the Opposition’s 2019 attempt to join forces against the BJP as “futile”, he claimed people will give a “bigger mandate” to the BJP in 2024.

With inputs from agencies

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