Mega Opposition meet today: Can they unite to defeat PM Modi and BJP?

The Opposition is going to hold a mega meeting today in Patna. The meeting is the brainchild of Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar to get the Opposition on the same page against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Nitish, as one might recall, dumped the BJP as an ally last year. But can the Opposition stay on the same page? Can they defeat PM Modi? Let’s take a closer look: What do we know about the meet? The idea of hosting a meeting of Opposition leaders in Patna was first floated by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The West Bengal chief minister who had invoked the memory of Jayaprakash Narayan upon meeting Kumar in Kolkata in April. Kumar, the JD(U) ’s supreme leader, has been pitching for “Opposition unity” ever since he snapped ties with the BJP in August.

According to India Today, the gathering will take place at Kumar’s residence.

According to Indian Express, CM House on 1 Anney Marg will host both lunch and dinner for the Opposition leaders. The menu is said to include Bihari cuisine. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, Banerjee, Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin are among the leaders expected to attend the Opposition meeting. [caption id=“attachment_12438292” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee are among the Opposition leaders attending the meet. Reuters[/caption] Banerjee will be accompanied by TMC national general secretary and her nephew Abhishek for the Opposition meeting. After the Congress’ massive victory in the Karnataka polls earlier this month, the TMC supremo had said her party would support the grand old party where it is strong in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but added that she would expect a seat-sharing formula to give priority to regional players in areas where they were strong. What’s the aim? To defeat the BJP, of course. As well as unite behind a joint candidate. As per NewsClick, Kumar has repeatedly claimed he is not in the race for the post of prime minister.

But according to a piece in NDTV, Kumar is eyeing a role somewhat akin to Narayan for himself.

The piece noted how Patna and the JP movement was critical in challenging Indira Gandhi in 1974. NDTV quoted sources as saying that no common minimum programme would be released and only plans would be debated. The release of a common statement also appears to be on the cards. “There is a clear-cut agenda to strengthen united Opposition, chalk out our strategies and common minimum programme, and to put a joint Opposition candidate against BJP and its allies to defeat them in the next elections,” a JDU leader told NewsClick. “This meeting is a starting point, and nothing big is expected, but a united Opposition will be a reality after it,” the leader added. A Congress leader told the website that several more meetings are to be expected. A Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader added, “Our leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav rightly pointed out that issues are important, not a particular person or leader. The meeting is a sign that there will be a change.” What do experts think? That the Opposition has an uphill task on its hands. A piece in NDTV, noting how the BJP won 303 seats in 2019 – netting even more seats than in the 2014 election, said the Opposition needs to draw up a  “one seat one candidate” formula for as many seats as possible. According to the piece, rallying around a common candidate might prove a difficult task for the Opposition given the sheer number of bigwigs in their camp. This, even though the non-BJP parties feel the need to throw their might behind one horse to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the BJP. [caption id=“attachment_12527172” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Experts say the Opposition faces an uphill task against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP[/caption] Complicating matters is the Congress’ confidence – boosted by its recent win in the Karnataka polls – is that it ought to be the fulcrum of the Opposition, according to the piece.

“The Patna meet may not produce all the answers, but it could give us a hint of what to expect,” the NDTV piece concluded.

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A piece in India Today said the meet could, at the very least, give a fillip to the Opposition of the morale and sow some doubts within the BJP. But the piece also posed the familiar question of whether the Congress could sync up its ambitions with the rest of the Opposition. “Each regional satrap will be getting their own bunch of expectations to the table and all eyes will be on the Congress party,” the piece noted. The piece noted the optics play of all the tallest leaders of the Opposition parties appearing together,  but questioned whether it would last. “A similar, if not as big, kind of opposition unity was seen during the swearing-in ceremony of HD Kumaraswamy as Karnataka Chief Minister in 2018. However, the optics turned into a damp squib as Prime Minister Modi was voted back to power. How long will the will last remains to be seen?” the piece concluded.But the meet could, at the very least, give a fillip to the Opposition of the morale and sow some doubts within the BJP, the piece noted. A piece in the Indian Express similarly noted the optics of how in June 1974 in Patna a similar call was made against Indira. The article noted that the meeting, despite that ‘near-perfect optic’, also has a hint of desperation about it combined with the burden of expectation. “But most leaders don’t expect much forward movement in this first meeting, particularly over the seat-sharing formula. The most expected outcome is a joint statement accusing the Modi-led Centre of undermining democracy, trampling institutions and silencing dissent, and asserting an intent to fight unitedly against the BJP,” the piece noted. ‘Hope gathering is constructive’ Banerjee on Thursday said she hoped the gathering would be constructive and said that the BJP must be defeated in the next Lok Sabha polls to save the country from disaster. Banerjee, who has been critical of the BJP’s “mishandling” of the situation in Manipur, said it is due to the policies of the saffron camp that the northeastern state is on the boil and the convening of the all-party meeting on 24 June was a “late decision”. “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. Asked about the all-party meeting on Manipur convened by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on 24 June, Banerjee said the Trinamool Congress would be represented by the party’s leader in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien. “It is too late now. I had requested the Centre to allow me to visit Manipur, but I received a letter yesterday informing me about the all-party meeting,” she said. Banerjee said the Centre failed to restore peace in Manipur, where ethnic violence has claimed more than 100 lives. The TMC said it considers Friday’s Opposition meeting in Bihar’s Patna as a “good beginning” ahead of the 2024 general elections and emphasised the significance of anti-BJP parties uniting against “undemocratic and authoritarian policies”. “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,” TMC’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien said. The aim should be to ensure that the Opposition unity takes shape at the earliest as less than a year is left before the 2024 general elections, 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,” he said. Roy said the efforts to cobble up Opposition unity had begun last year during the selection of Opposition candidates for the presidential elections. When asked whether the issue of leadership of the Opposition front would throw a spanner into the efforts, 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 wish to be named, said the ongoing crisis in Manipur, where ethnic violence has claimed over 100 lives, would also feature in the discussions. Though Jayant Chaudhary is skipping the event due to a family programme, the Rashtriya Lok Dal chief said he hoped the meeting will be an “important milestone in the path of Opposition unity”. [caption id=“attachment_12774742” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary is skipping the get together.[/caption] In a letter to Kumar that was shared on the official Twitter handle of the RLD on Thursday, Chaudhary said, “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”. “This way, we can together bring a meaningful change in the country in line with the aspirations of the youth, women, farmers and the underprivileged sections of the society,” he said. Extending his best wishes for the success of the meeting, the RLD chief said, “I am sure that this meeting will prove to be an important milestone in the path of opposition unity.” Top leaders of Opposition parties will brainstorm at a meeting in Patna on Friday to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of an anti-BJP front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. But already cracks have begun to appear in the Opposition. ‘Meeting of hands, not hearts’ BSP supremo Mayawati, who has not been invited to the meet, said it does not seem from the attitude of the Opposition parties that they are serious about their objective in Uttar Pradesh. “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. Keeping in mind the preparations for the next Lok Sabha elections, it would have been better if these parties had tried to instil general confidence in the people with clear intentions, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said. “How long will ‘muh me Ram bagal me chhuri’ (speaking praise on face and stabbing in the back) last?” she added. AAP threatens walk out AAP sources claimed that the party would walk out of Friday’s meeting of Opposition leaders in Patna if the Congress does not promise its support against the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi. “The AAP will stage a walkout of the meeting if the Congress does not promise its support against the ordinance,” one of the sources said on Thursday. Delhi chief minister Kejriwal had expressed hope On Tuesday that the Congress would clear its stand on the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in the National Capital at the meeting of non-BJP parties in Patna. The BJP has dubbed the proposed Opposition meeting a “futile exercise” and said such an “opportunistic alliance would not yield any result”. “These are futile exercises. We saw such efforts in 2014 and 2019, and the results are before us. The people of this country trust the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They would never vote for an unstable and opportunistic alliance,” BJP’s West Bengal unit president Sukanta Majumdar said. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.