Ahead of LS 2024: 2nd Day of Opposition meeting in Bengaluru

Sharad Pawar, the head of the NCP, attended the opposition unity meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The summit’s discussion topics included providing the coalition of 26 opposition parties a name, a structure, and a shared goal for taking on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Tuesday’s proceedings will be official in contrast to the prior day’s informal conversations and dinner gathering. At the Monday night dinner meeting, all political parties were requested to submit names for the alliance. These names would then be considered, and a decision would be made after reaching a consensus.

According to sources, the parties are also likely to publish a joint proclamation and choose a committee to oversee the grouping’s operations. According to sources, Sonia Gandhi’s name has also been floated as a candidate to lead the new coalition. From 2004 through 2014, Sonia Gandhi presided over UPAs 1 and 2, which were in power.

Two subcommittees will also be announced, one for finalising the shared minimum programme and creating contact points, and the other for developing a coordinated opposition calendar of events, protests, and conventions.

At the conference on Tuesday were prominent opposition figures such as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, the chief ministers of West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and previous chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra in addition to party presidents and leaders of various parties. Pawar, who arrived for the meeting on day two, had a kind welcome.

Rahul Gandhi wrote on Facebook, “A United Opposition- To protect our Democracy, To Safeguard India’s Constitution.”

They added that the Manipur problem was discussed and the importance of dispatching an all-party team to the violent state was emphasised, adding that discussions on state-by-state seat-sharing and resolving conflicts among regional organisations was on the table.

On Monday, the topic of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) was discussed; on Tuesday, additional discussions will take place.

Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT), Farooq Abdullah (NC), Mehbooba Mufti (PDP), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), D Raja (CPI), Jayant Chaudhary (RLD), and MDMK MP Vaiko were also present at the meeting, which was hosted by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The NDA meeting, which was held on Tuesday in Delhi and coincides with the opposition meeting, is where some new allies are likely to join the government’s BJP-led alliance. Despite claims of togetherness, there are still disagreements among opposition groups, particularly those that have traditionally been rivals, and it will be difficult to compromise political interests.

The final opposition unity meeting was held in Patna on June 23 and was attended by fifteen parties, including the Congress, TMC, AAP, CPI, CPI-M, RJD, JMM, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), SP, and JDU. Nitish Kumar is the chief minister of Bihar.

This time, other parties include the MDMK, KDMK, VCK, RSP, CPI-ML, Forward Bloc, IUML, Kerala Congress (Joseph), and Kerala Congress (Mani), in addition to Krishna Patel’s Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) and M H Jawahirullah’s Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) of Tamil Nadu. Around 150 Lok Sabha members represent the opposition parties in total at this conference.