Decided to fight 2024 together, next meeting in Shimla: Nitish
After a meeting of around 16 opposition parties in Patna on Friday, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar called the meeting positive and said that the parties have decided to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together. The next opposition meeting will be held in Shimla, he added. Several opposition leaders from across the country were present at the meeting.
Why does this story matter?
The opposition is trying to forge a joint front to unseat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in next year's elections. This is the first time that parties such as the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which are ambivalent toward the Congress, have shared a common platform with the grand old party by setting their differences aside.
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Who all joined meeting
While Nitish hosted the meeting, his counterparts from Delhi, Punjab, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, namely Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, Hemant Soren, Mamata Banerjee, and MK Stalin, joined the meeting, respectively. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also joined the meeting.
Nitish named convenor of opposition
Nitish has been named the convenor of the joint front. It was earlier reported that the meeting would see the leaders chalk out a structure for the proposed front. A chairperson, a convenor, and other office bearers were to be chosen as well. The convener is likely to be projected as the coalition's prime ministerial candidate. The next meeting is likely on July 11-12.
Opposition's one-point agenda to defeat PM Modi
Recently, opposition leaders said that determining a prime ministerial candidate was not their top priority. Once the BJP is defeated in the elections, the PM candidate can be selected thereafter. Nitish also claimed earlier that he doesn't have prime ministerial ambitions. Meanwhile, BJP leaders have attacked the opposition, saying that they have no ideology but a solitary agenda of defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
