Stage Set For Mega Opposition Meet In Patna: Here's All You Need To Know

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will host a meeting of opposition parties at his official residence on Friday which is expected to set the tone for the much-hyped ‘Opposition unity’ to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in next year's Lok Sabha elections. More than a dozen parties are expected to join the crucial meeting called by the Janata Dal (United) chief, who snapped ties with the BJP last year. The meeting is aimed at boosting the Opposition’s morale which has been hurt by the frequent squabbling and infighting of parties.

The stage is set and guests, comprising non-BJP leaders from across the country, will receive a grand welcome from the state ministers at the city airport. They will be offered a taste of Bihari cuisine, including the popular dish ‘litti chokha’, on the menu.

However, before discussions could begin, the Opposition meet has already been marred by criticism from leaders like Mayawati and Arvind Kejriwal, who intend to skip or walk out of the meeting. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress called it a “good beginning” ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Here’s all you need to know about the Opposition meeting:

1. The idea of hosting a meeting of opposition leaders in Patna was floated by Banerjee, who had invoked the memory of Jayaprakash Narayan upon meeting Nitish Kumar in Kolkata in April. Kumar has been tirelessly engaging with national and regional party leaders to strengthen opposition unity for the past few months.

2. From Manipur violence to the wrestlers’ protest and Centre’s ordinance in Delhi, opposition leaders are likely to discuss a variety of issues at the meeting in Nitish Kumar’s residence. The meeting aims to be an ice-breaker for the discussions among the opposition parties with a focus on the Lok Sabha polls to avoid any kind of derailment.

3. It will be interesting to see if the parties will push for a single face to compete against PM Modi. Some media reports say that Kumar, who has had the longest desire for the prime ministerial seat, could emerge as the convenor for a united opposition. However, with contenders like Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party and TMC’s Mamata Banerjee, the decision will not be easy.

4. Leaders who are expected to take part in the meeting include Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin, Sharad Pawar, Mehbooba Mufti and Hemant Soren, among others. Banerjee will also be accompanied by her nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati, however, announced that she would skip the meeting and clarified her stance against an opposition alliance saying it was ‘more like joining hands, not hearts’. Meanwhile, it is unclear whether Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann will attend the meeting.

5. Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal reportedly threatened to boycott the meeting if Congress did not promise to support the party against the Centre's ordinance. Kejriwal, who has been fighting for the government’s control over administrative services in Delhi after Centre took away the authority, earlier expressed hope that Congress would clear its stand on the issue.

6. The AAP’s alleged decision also came hours after Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav also sidestepped questions about the ordinance row when asked by reporters. Kejriwal earlier urged Congress to look at the ordinance issue as a national problem, not that of Delhi alone.

7. The BJP has dubbed the proposed opposition meeting a "futile exercise" and said such an "opportunistic alliance would not yield any result". The saffron party said that the country trusts the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that the people would not “vote for an unstable and opportunistic alliance".