Key Opposition meet in Patna to sketch roadmap for 2024: 6 points

Here’s a lowdown on what to expect.

1. 01

   Who is attending?

   Top leaders of around 18 Opposition parties are attending the meeting in Patna today. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are participating in the deliberations.

   Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were seen arriving in the Bihar capital on Friday morning, ahead of the conference.

2. 02

   Why is it important?

   The meeting is particularly critical as it is expected to forge a united Opposition front against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

   A roadmap on countering the BJP is expected to be formulated at the key meet. "We will discuss the way forward to our common minimum programme to set our national agenda for the 2024 elections. We will make preparations for an alternative model of governance," Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Kumar Prasad said on Thursday.

   Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav stressed that “nobody can deny the fact that there are so many leaders in opposition who are much more experienced than PM Modi, and everybody will put forward their opinion in the meeting.”

3. 03

   'BJP will disappear from Telangana, Bihar, MP...': Rahul Gandhi

   Addressing Congress workers in Patna on Friday morning, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi asserted that the BJP will lose several upcoming state elections.

   "I am stating from this stage, the BJP won't be visible in Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan. The Congress will win (in all four Assembly elections)," he said.

   "All Congress leaders must be united and fight 2024 elections keeping aside differences: Mallikarjun Kharge at party office in Patna," party President Kharge said, adding, "If we win Bihar, we will win India."

4. 04

   BJP targets Oppn meet, posters show Rahul as 'Devdas'

   The BJP has expressed derision for the Opposition meeting being held today. "Sitting together for tea does not mean that the opposition is united," BJP MP Sushil Modi remarked.

   "Nitish Kumar 2024 ke liye baaraat saja rahe hai Patna mai, baaraat me to dulha bhi hota hai, par is baaraat ka dulha kon hai? (Nitish Kumar is decorating the wedding procession for the 2024 elections in Patna, but who is the groom (PM contender). Everyone is calling themself a PM contender," BJP MP and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

   Posters outside the BJP office in Patna showed Rahul Gandhi as a 'real-life Devdas', comparing him to the literary character played by Bollywood stars Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan.

5. 05

   Who is not attending?

   Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has allegedly not been invited to the meeting, and has strongly criticised it on Twitter.

   “Eighty Lok Sabha seats in UP are said to be the key to electoral success, but it does not seem from the attitude of the Opposition parties that they are serious and truly concerned about their objective here. Without the right priorities, will the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections here really bring about the necessary change?” she said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

   Further, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary had written to JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, the prime mover behind the meeting, excusing himself on account of "a pre-decided family programme." He, however, averred that Friday's meet "will be an important step towards Opposition unity."

6. 06

   Full list of attendees

   1. Nitish Kumar (JDU)
   2. Mamata Banerjee (AITC)
   3. MK Stalin (DMK)
   4. Mallikarjun Kharge (INC)
   5. Rahul Gandhi (INC)
   6. Arvind Kejriwal (AAP)
   7. Hemant Soren (JMM)
   8. Uddhav Thackeray (SS-UBT)
   9. Sharad Pawar (NCP)
   10. Lalu Prasad Yadav (RJD)
   11. Bhagwant Mann (AAP)
   12. Akhilesh Yadav (SP)
   13. Sitaram Yechury (CPIM)
   14. Omar Abdullah (NC)
   15. TR Baalu (DMK)
   16. Mehbooba Mufti (PDP)
   17. Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPIML)
   18. Tejashwi Yadav (RJD)
   19. KC Venugopal (INC)
   20. Abhishek Banerjee (AITC)
   21. Derek O’Brien (AITC)
   22. Aaditya Thackeray (SS-UBT)
   23. D Raja (CPI)
   24. Supriya Sule (NCP)
   25. Manoj Jha (RJD)
   26. Firhad Hakim (AITC)
   27. Praful Patel (NCP)
   28. Raghav Chaddha (AAP)
   29. Sanjay Singh (AAP)
   30. Sanjay Raut (SS-UBT)
   31. Lalan Singh (JDU)
   32. Sanjay Jha (RJD)