Message from Patna is loud and clear that the opposition will fight the BJP together.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was the host of the big opposition meeting of 17 parties, said soon after the four-hour long meeting that they have decided to unite to fight the BJP.
Aam Admi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin were absent at the joint press conference, though the Bihar Chief Minister said that they had left because they had to catch their flights back home.
This became possible despite differences between AAP and the Congress during the meeting, where the former made it clear that it would be “very difficult” for it to be part of an alliance until the Grand Old Party denounced the Centre’s ordinance in Delhi.
Details including seat sharing and party-wise split will be finalised in the Shimla meeting,” Nitish Kumar said at the joint press conference.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the next meeting would tentatively be held on July 10 or 12, which will deliberate the strategy for all states.
“We have to fight the elections together in 2024. We have decided to throw out the BJP and are confident of forming the next government,” Kharge said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of alleged attack on democratic institutions. “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,” he said.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee, too, asserted that the parties that attended would fight as one.
“What starts from Patna becomes a Jan Andolan,” Banerjee said, alluding to the iconic JP movement during the Emergency. She further said meetings in Delhi didn’t yield results.
There were reportedly sharp exchanges between Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party during the meeting, sources said. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal sought the grand old party’s stand on the Ordinance issue.
With the objective of exerting extra moral pressure on the Congress before the start of the meeting, the AAP played yet another card when Chief Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar alleged that the Congress is not taking a stand because of a deal with the BJP. Kakkar had told a TV news channel minutes ahead of the meeting that they have come to know from reliable sources that “there is a consensus between Congress and BJP” which is why the Congress is not opposing the ordinance.
Mallikarjun Kharge objected to the AAP Chief Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar’s allegation that the Congress is not taking a stand because of a deal with the BJP. He said the Congress will take the decision before Parliament’s monsoon session next month.
Even as the Opposition parties’ press conference projecting unity after the 17-party meeting in Patna was on, the Aam Aadmi Party kept mounting pressure on the Congress and said it will not be part of any future Opposition gatherings until the Congress publicly opposes the Centre’s contentious ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.
AAP supremo Kejriwal is reportedly very keen to keep the issue in the public domain with a view to project his image in public perception that he is fighting the BJP.
The announcement came after there were sharp exchanges between the Congress and the AAP during the meeting. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal sought the grand old party’s stand on the ordinance issue. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge raised objection to the AAP Chief Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar’s allegation that the Congress is not taking a stand because of a deal with the BJP.
Congress has repeatedly said the big meeting was not the occasion for such issues, and that they decide on such issues ahead of Parliament sessions.
“Opposing it or proposing it does not happen outside, it happens in Parliament. Before Parliament begins, all parties decide what issues they have to work on together. They know it, and even their leaders come to our all-party meetings. I don’t know why is there so much publicity about it outside,” Kharge had said before reaching Patna.
As expected a ‘common minimum program’ was briefly discussed in the first meeting along with issues related to social justice, the alleged misuse of investigating agencies by the Centre, the violence in Manipur, the wrestlers’ protest, and the Delhi ordinance were also raised. Discussions on a single face from the joint Opposition against the BJP was purposefully avoided.
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