Patna: Nitish Kumar announced after the meeting of opposition parties in Patna that 17 parties will come together to face the Lok Sabha elections to topple the BJP-led central government.
A consultative meeting of non-BJP opposition parties was held today (June 23) in Patna, the capital of Bihar, to face the Lok Sabha elections to be held next year. Congress President Mallikarjuna Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soran, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav were present in this consultation meeting at the invitation of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. , Nationalist Congress President Sarath Pawar, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Wing) President Uddhav Thackeray and others are present.
Many leaders shared their views on how to face the Lok Sabha elections. After the 4-hour consultation meeting, all the leaders met the press. Nitish Kumar spoke then. “This consultation meeting was conducted in a good manner. Various leaders also expressed their opinions. It was decided in this meeting that all 17 parties will face the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in a unified manner,” he said.
Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge said, “The next meeting of the opposition parties will be held in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, next month. We have decided to formulate a general plan to face the parliamentary elections together. We will take a decision on how to take this forward in the next meeting. We will formulate separate plans for each state to work together. Our goal is to defeat the BJP,” he said.
Talking to reporters about the consultative meeting, Rahul Gandhi said, “Though there are some differences of opinion within the opposition parties, we will face the election together. We will work flexibly and protect our ideology.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “We are united. We will fight together. History starts from here. BJP wants history to be changed. But we want history to be preserved. Our aim is to speak against this fascist government.”
Speaking to reporters, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray said, “We have ideological differences. But we are united to protect the diversity and unity of the country.”
The Aam Aadmi Party has expressed displeasure over the Congress party’s lack of open opposition to the central government’s emergency law on the powers of the Delhi government.
In a statement issued by the party in this regard, “The Central Government’s black law must be defeated in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress party has not openly opposed this law so far. This shows its intention. Why does the Congress party refuse to announce that all 31 MPs of our party in the Rajya Sabha will vote against this law? When the Congress party is acting like this. , it will be difficult for Aam Aadmi Party to participate in the next meeting of opposition parties,” it said.
What is BJP’s reaction? – Talking about the Patna meeting of opposition parties, senior BJP leader Amit Shah said, “They are gathering for a photo shoot. They want to oppose the BJP. No matter how hard they try, they cannot unite. Maybe even if they unite, the people will ensure that Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister again by winning more than 300 parliamentarians.” Likewise, BJP National President JP Natta has criticized the joining of opposition parties in Patna as opportunistic politics.
Meanwhile, “Nitish Kumar has organized a wedding procession for the upcoming 2024 election in Patna. But who is the bridegroom of this procession? Everyone there considers themselves as the prime ministerial candidate,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, a senior BJP leader in Bihar state and former Union Minister.
