- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Leaders of some of India’s opposition parties, including the Indian National Congress, on Wednesday (12) came together to explore the possibility of putting up a united fight against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi which is looking to win the third straight term in the next year’s general elections.
Nitish Kumar, chief minister of the eastern state of Bihar, and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, took part in the meeting which was held at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and was also attended by former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. Kumar leads the Janata Dal (United) while Yadav is the chairperson of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) — two of Bihar’s major political players.
Among other leaders who were present at the meeting were JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh, RJD parliamentarian from the Rajya Sabha or Upper House of the parliament Manoj Kumar Jha and Congress leader and former federal minister Salman Khurshid.
Kharge later addressed the media saying it was a “historic meeting” and they aim to unite all opposition parties for upcoming electoral challenges.
Gandhi, who was convicted by a court in the western state of Gujarat last month in a defamation case and disqualified as a parliamentarian, also said a “historic step” had been taken to unite the opposition parties.
“It is a process, it will develop the opposition’s vision for the country,” he said.
Kumar, who dumped the BJP last year to form a new government in Bihar with RJD, said the goal is to unite as many parties as possible and work together. Ahead of the meeting, Kumar also called on RJD patriarch and his old ally Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is recovering at his parliamentarian daughter Misa Bharti’s residence in the national capital.
Kharge tweeted from his official handle that the opposition leaders had pledged to raise people’s voice and give the country a new direction.
“We will protect the Constitution and save the country,” he tweeted in Hindi.
Kharge has also spoken to Tamil Nadu chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo MK Stalin and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier.
As the 2024 general elections draw closer, opposition parties in India have been exploring new equations to take on the incumbent BJP.
However, while some parties have cleared their stand on the question of joining a united front, others have sent out mixed signals.
The Trinamool Congress which rules the eastern state of West Bengal, for example, had earlier announced that it would contest the Lok Sabha polls alone. The Aam Aadmi Party, which got a national party status this week, has also not clarified its stand.
Opposition unity in Indian politics seemed to receive a boost in the wake of Gandhi’s conviction and disqualification as a parliamentarian. The Congress leader got bail in the case by the court in Gujarat and his two-year jail sentence was paused until a decision on his appeal challenging the conviction.
His appeal will be taken up on Thursday (13).
