Top Opposition leaders will come together on Monday to discuss forming a grand alliance to take on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019.
The meeting, to be held in Delhi, has been called by Chandrababu Naidu, who has taken on the challenging task of bringing the disparate opposition parties under a single umbrella to take on the BJP in 2019.
The BJP, meanwhile, mocked the scheduled meeting of opposition parties and said they should first declare a prime ministerial candidate before thinking of ousting the Narendra Modi government.
“It’s really good to see opposition parties trying to forge an alliance to fight against us. But, first let them declare their prime ministerial candidate, then they should dream of fighting against us and ousting us. We have Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is their PM candidate?” BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said.
The Opposition meeting is likely to be attended by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee, National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) leader Sharad Yadav are also among those likely to attend the meeting.
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav was likely to attend the Opposition meet, but in case he is unable to attend it, then senior party leader Ram Gopal Yadav would be present, said a party source.
It may be noted that last month, Naidu had met the heads of several opposition parties, including Rahul Gandhi, and termed the TDP’s alliance with the Congress a ‘democratic compulsion’ to protect the country.
Mayawati, who has a large following among the Scheduled Castes — especially in Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest number of lawmakers to the Lok Sabha — is likely to give the meeting a miss, sources said.
While Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has always spoken in support of an alliance, she has also met with Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader K Chandrashekar Rao, who is working towards a non-Congress, non-BJP front.
Ms Banerjee has also made it clear that she wants a bigger and more central role for the national parties.
In Odisha, Biju Janata Dal chief and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has maintained a non-aligned stance. In the election for the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman in August, his nine lawmakers had voted for the government in what would have been a close-fought election.
Chandrababu Naidu, who ended his decades-long rivalry with the Congress recently, admits that “one or two parties” may have a difference of opinion. But “It is for people to sink their differences… Democracy is important”.
Mr Naidu has already met a string of opposition leaders including Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal over the last few weeks.
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