TOP leaders of 26 Opposition parties were arriving here on Monday for a two-day brainstorming session with a call for unity and are expected to chalk out their joint programme aimed at defeating the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “United We Stand” is the slogan on posters that dotted the streets of Bengaluru with pictures of Opposition leaders, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, DMK chief M K Stalin and leaders of Left and some regional outfits. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge arrived in the Karnataka capital on a special plane and were received at the airport by State Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav also reached later in the afternoon. A warm welcome was also accorded here to other leaders like former Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Farooq Abdullah (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP), besides Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), D Raja (CPI) and Jayant Chaudhary (RLD). The Congress asserted that Opposition unity would be “a game changer” for the Indian political scenario and took a swipe at the BJP, saying those who used to talk of defeating the Opposition parties alone are now making attempts to breathe new life into the NDA which had become a “ghost”.

 

The Opposition meeting coincides with the NDA meeting convened on July 18 in Delhi, where some new allies are likely to join the ruling BJP-led coalition. Talks of unity notwithstanding, differences among Opposition parties, especially those who have been traditional rivals remain, and reconciling political interests will be a challenging task. Arriving for the Opposition meet, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury ruled out any alliance with the TMC in West Bengal and said that secular parties along with the Left and the Congress will take on the BJP as well as the TMC in the State. Yechury, however, added that the endeavour is to reduce the split in Opposition votes and they will chalk out a plan to fight together. Sources said the Opposition leaders will firm up a strategy to defeat the BJP in the next general elections during the two-day session, which will start with a dinner meeting that will be attended by Sonia Gandhi and other top leaders. Mamata Banerjee is not likely to attend the dinner due to an injury.

 

The Opposition leaders will begin work on a common minimum programme and announce a joint agitational plan, besides holding discussions on issuing a joint declaration and moving forward on their proposal of putting up common Opposition candidates in a majority of the Lok Sabha seats. The agenda for the talks would be finalised during discussions before a dinner meeting on Monday evening. Congress President Kharge said all Opposition alliance partners will unitedly fight against the BJP and thwart attempts to divide them. He also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he had claimed that he alone is enough to take on the Opposition, then why was he feeling the need to get 30 parties together. Referring to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting on Tuesday, Kharge claimed that seeing the Opposition getting together, the BJP was “rattled”.

 

“The PM had said ‘Main akela kaafi hoon saare Opposition ke liye’ while speaking in Rajya Sabha, then why is he bringing together 30 parties. Who are these 30 parties, what are their names, are they all registered with the Election Commission.” Addressing a press conference ahead of the meeting, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said attempts are being made to breathe new life into the NDA. “So NDA, which had become a ghost, attempts are now being made to breathe a new life into it,” Ramesh said. This is a result of the meeting in Patna, he added.