On the eve of the first joint meeting of the Opposition parties, scheduled for June 23 in Patna, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) made public its president Jayant Chaudhary's decision to skip the conclave due to a “pre-decided family programme”. This came after the Janata Dal (United), which is hosting the meet, said Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has not been invited to the event. Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Bihar unit distanced itself from a poster in Patna, which claimed that Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal “would be Prime Minister” while calling Bihar CM and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar a “confidant of PM Narendra Modi”. Jayant Chaudhary In a letter to Nitish that was released by the RLD Thursday, Chaudhary, while expressing his inability to attend the conclave due to his family programme, extended his wishes for its success, saying "I am sure that this meeting will prove to be an important milestone in the path of opposition unity." "The way authoritarian and communal forces are posing a threat to democracy and social harmony in the country, it is the need of the hour to unite the opposition parties of the same ideology. By discussing the important problems and challenges of the country, the entire opposition can present a far-reaching, practical plan in front of the public," Chaudhary stated in his letter. Mayawati On her part, Mayawati hit out at the Opposition gathering. “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. 3. वैसे अगले लोकसभा चुनाव की तैयारी को ध्यान में रखकर इस प्रकार के प्रयास से पहले अगर ये पार्टियाँ, जनता में उनके प्रति आम विश्वास जगाने की गज़ऱ् से, अपने गिरेबान में झाँककर अपनी नीयत को थोड़ा पाक-साफ कर लेतीं तो बेहतर होता। ’मुँह में राम बग़ल में छुरी’ आख़िर कब तक चलेगा? — Mayawati (@Mayawati) June 22, 2023 The BSP supremo accused both the BJP and the Congress of not implementing the Constitution as envisioned by B R Ambedkar. "It is clear from the condition of Bahujans in the country that parties like the BJP and Congress are not capable of implementing the humanistic egalitarian Constitution framed by B R Ambedkar". She said, "How long will 'Muh me Ram bagal me chhuri' (being two-faced) last?" Mamata Banerjee and TMC leaders The Trinamool Congress (TMC), whose chairperson Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal CM, first floated the idea of holding a meeting of the Opposition parties in Patna – while invoking the socialist icon Jayaprakash Narayan – described the Opposition's joint meet a "good beginning" in the run-up to the 2024 general elections, underlining the significance of the anti-BJP parties uniting against "undemocratic and authoritarian policies". Leaving for Patna Thursday, Mamata said in Kolkata that the Patna meeting would be constructive, asserting that the BJP must be defeated in the Lok Sabha polls to save the country from disaster. "Tomorrow is our Opposition meeting. We hope it will be good and collective decisions will be taken. I feel that to save the country from disaster, people will vote against the BJP," she told reporters. After landing in Patna, Mamata expressed confidence that the Opposition parties will take on the BJP "one to one". "I cannot say what will happen at tomorrow's meeting. But I am certain we are all here to fight the BJP together, like a family, one to one," she told reporters outside the residence of Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, where she met his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his wife and ex-CM Rabri Devi. The TMC supremo, however, parried questions on her reservations about the Congress's alliance with the Left in her state and the AAP purportedly threatening to pull out of the Opposition's meeting if the Congress did not back the party over its campaign against the BJP-led Centre over its Delhi ordinance. TMC's Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said: "A good beginning even before reaching Patna.All parties working to save the Constitution of the country are on the same page on many issues. For now, we have a date, a venue and an agreement that the head of every party will attend the meeting. Subsequently, the date and venue for the next meeting will be decided in Patna. Beyond this, it is not advisable for anyone to jump the gun and speculate." Senior TMC leader Sukhendu Shekhar Roy told PTI, “The BJP has destroyed the country's democracy and is trying to subvert the Constitution. If the parties, which are opposed to the BJP and are fighting against it, fail to come together to put up a united fight, it would be unfortunate for the country.” Asked whether the issue of the leadership of the Opposition front would throw a spanner into its unity bid, Roy said, "Only media and BJP are bothered about it. Neither the Opposition parties nor the people of this country are bothered about such a leadership issue." Another TMC leader, who did not want to be named, said the ongoing crisis in Manipur, where ethnic violence has claimed about 120 lives so far, would also feature in the discussions at the conclave. AAP leaders The AAP distanced itself from a poster put up at a key road crossing in Patna, signed by one Vikas Kumar Jyoti who, the party said, was not associated with it. Besides calling Kejriwal “bhaavi Pradhan Mantri (future PM) ”, the poster claims that Nitish is a “khasam khas of Narendra Modi (confidant of Narendra Modi)” in whom the people had “neither faith nor hope". “This is a disgusting conspiracy against Opposition unity,” said Bablu Kumar, the spokesman of AAP's Bihar unit. “Our leader Arvind Kejriwal is coming to Patna to take part in the meeting along with our Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann. The person, who has put up the poster, is not known to us and has never been a primary member of our party,” said the AAP spokesman. On the official Twitter handle of the AAP's Bihar unit, the pary's co-in-charge Abhinav Rai also issued a statement, alleging that “the BJP has grown afraid of a united Opposition and is getting misleading posters put up to spread rumours and falsehood. Let all be on their guard and devote themselves to uprooting the dictatorial BJP government in 2024.” Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Arvind Sawant Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray is also set to attend the Patna meet, with party leader Arvind Sawant saying, “Tomorrow all the leaders are meeting at Patna. Uddhav ji is also going there. Let us see what happens there. They are very mature and experienced people of the country.” “Even Sonia ji, Rahul ji, Pawar ji, Nitish Kumar ji are there. All these are stalwarts. We should abide by whatever decision is taken and work sincerely to secure victory,” said Sawant. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Jharkhand CM and JMM leader Hemant Soren, DMK chief and Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav are among the Opposition leaders attending the Patna conclave. PDP chief and ex-Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti also arrived in Patna Thursday to participate in it. Mahagathbandhan leaders The constituents of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), which rules Bihar, said the Patna meet would provide a roadmap against the Modi-led BJP government for the 2024 polls, although they added that the finer points in this regard were yet to be discussed. "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. RJD national vice president and former MP Shivanand Tiwari said there needed to be a “broader idea” than just being anti-Modi. "Just saying that we are anti-Narendra Modi is not sufficient, we have to prepare our draft on what we are going to offer. The meeting will be a broad primer to discuss issues raised by individual parties,” he said. (With PTI inputs)
