Opposition parties will shortly call for a joint meeting as the first step towards building an anti-BJP forum by the end of this month, Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal and JD(U)‘s national president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh told reporters after a meeting between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi. Though, the Centre’s ordinance overriding the Delhi government’s control over its bureaucracy has complicated the equation, with the Congress yet to take a call on supporting the Aam Aadmi Party’s bid to stall the Bill replacing the ordinance.
“We will decide the date and venue of the opposition meeting in a day or two,” Mr. Venugopal said, adding that he expects a “vast majority” of opposition parties to attend the meeting. Mr. Ranjan also echoed the same thing. “We had a detailed discussion on the emerging consensus among the opposition parties,” Mr. Ranjan said. RJD leader and Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav had taken ill and couldn’t attend the meeting.
This is Mr. Kumar’s second meeting with the Congress leadership in a month’s time. He had last met Mr. Kharge and Mr. Gandhi on April 12. In the meantime, Mr. Kumar met West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD President Naveen Patnaik, Telangana Chief Minister and BRS leader K. Chandrashekhar Rao, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav. All five parties are non-Congress allies and Mr. Kumar reached out to them to understand their position ahead of the 2024 general elections.
“In today’s meeting, Mr. Kumar shared the discussions he had with the five of them,” a senior Congress leader said. According to informed sources, the two sides concluded that even if BJD and BRS who in the last nine years of BJP government, have largely maintained distance from the opposition, leaning more towards the BJP are to remain aloof, there are at least 400 Lok Sabha seats on which the opposition formula of single candidate against BJP can be arrived at.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s bid to stall the Centre’s ordinance seeking the creation of a National Capital Civil Service Authority that empowers Delhi’s Lt. Governor to make the final decision on posting and tenures of Delhi bureaucrats, overruling the elected government, has introduced a new twist in the equation. Without the Congress’s support in Rajya Sabha, AAP’s campaign stands no chance. While, both JD(U) and RJD have assured Mr. Kejriwal of their support, the Congress has not yet made up its mind.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Venugopal said, “We will have to hold internal discussions on the issue and when the bill comes to the Parliament, we will also speak to other like-minded parties before taking the final call on the issue.”
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AAP meanwhile, according to multiple sources is making overtures to Congress including suggesting an electoral alliance in Delhi for the Lok Sabha polls. Sources, also said that AAP which for long has skipped opposition meetings hosted by the Congress is keen to have a one-on-one meeting with the Congress leadership. The Congress has not responded to any of their proposals. The party’s Delhi unit remains steadfastly opposed to extending any helping hand to AAP.
The party’s general secretary, Ajay Maken while speaking to The Hindu, recounted the past examples when AAP had voted with the government on key legislations in Rajya Sabha. Mr. Maken asked, “The question is how can we trust a party, that voted in favour of the government on abrogation of Article 370? How can we trust a party, that voted against the opposition’s candidate for Deputy Chairman’s post in the upper house? How do we support the party, that poached a former Congress MLA to contest against us in Jalandhar bypolls?”
