The meeting of the leaders of opposition parties in Patna to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of an anti-BJP front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was “positive,” Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP hit out at the Congress over its refusal to support the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.
“We have decided to fight 2024 election together, it was a positive meeting,” Kumar said and added that the next meeting of the opposition will be held in Shimla soon. Kumar said the decision on seat sharing will be taken in the opposition meeting that will be held in Shimla from July 10 to 12.
In a press conference after the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said the opposition parties will “work together with flexibility.” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge too said the parties will meet again in July to prepare an agenda for the future to fight the BJP.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee affirmed that the opposition is united. “We are united, we will fight unitedly…The history started from here, BJP wants that history should be changed. And we want history should be saved from Bihar. Our objective is to speak against this fascist government,” she said.
We have met to save the country from devastation and to bring democracy back, said National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah after the meeting. “I and Mehbooba Mufti belong to that part of the country where democracy is murdered. Yesterday in America there were discussions about democracy in the White House. Why this democracy doesn’t reach Jammu and Kashmir,” he asked.
Meanwhile, the AAP, which skipped the press conference after the meeting, said in a statement: “Except for the Indian National Congress, all other 11 parties, which have representation in the Rajya Sabha, have clearly expressed their stand against the Black Ordinance (Centres’s ordinance on Delhi govt) and announced that they would oppose it in the Rajya Sabha.”
“The Congress, a national party that takes a stand on almost all issues, has yet to make its position on the Black Ordinance public. Congress’ silence raises suspicions about its real intentions,” AAP said.
