Opposition leaders will meet in Delhi tomorrow amid growing divisions and shifting power dynamics, with its regional partners, including the DMK and TMC, seeing election setbacks in their states.
The crucial rally will bring together 23 opposition parties including senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Karge, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray (UBT). Left leaders and leaders of small parties are also likely to attend the meeting to be held at the Constitution Club in Delhi, news agency PTI reported.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Aam Aadmi Party are unlikely to attend, with the former citing Congress’ alliance with TVK in Tamil Nadu and the latter saying the party has “failed to challenge” the BJP. The meeting is also key to resetting the opposition bloc’s strategy forward, in light of the election setbacks in recent months.
What is the agenda of the opposition meeting?
Opposition parties are expected to redraw their strategy on Monday to challenge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, while also trying to iron out the difference that has emerged amid changing power dynamics in some states, according to a PTI report.
📌 The alliance will also deliberate and discuss the way forward and next course of action, with the aim of forming a united front on national issues against the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.
📌 The recent defeat of the TMC in West Bengal may have motivated the opposition parties to come together, among other reasons. The meeting will be crucial as it will help them chart their future steps in the run-up to the next session of Assembly elections and the next Lok Sabha elections in 2029.
📌While TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and party secretary general Abhishek Banerjee are scheduled to attend the bloc meeting, party MP Derek O’Brien said the meeting will have a “common goal and clear intention.” “Many parties look forward to meeting in a spirit of camaraderie,” O’Brien added.
📌No official meeting of the India Bloc has been held since the last official meeting in New Delhi on June 1, 2024 before the Lok Sabha elections. Since then, while the leadership has formally met during Parliament sessions, there has been no joint meeting.
The absence of parties and internal divisions pose challenges
While Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said 23 parties had confirmed their participation and assured that the bloc would remain united through its diversity, some parties in the bloc expressed their differences. The DMK and AAP are unlikely to attend, and the TMC is witnessing a split in its ranks after a mutiny by 58 of the 80 MLAs. Among the rebel MLAs, Ritabrata Banerjee met the Speaker of the Bengal Assembly and was appointed Leader of the Opposition in the House.
While the AAP has distanced itself from the bloc since campaigning for the Delhi Assembly elections in 2025, the DMK announced its decision to boycott the meeting after the Congress severed ties with it in Tamil Nadu following its defeat, and allied itself with TVK to help it form the government. As a result, TVK is expected to be part of the meeting on Monday.
AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar on Saturday highlighted the party’s issues with the Congress, saying the latter had “failed to challenge” the BJP.
“The only purpose of Congress in alliance with any party is to strengthen themselves, not the country… We cannot join hands with a party against the youth of the country…” Kakar said, while referring to the rift between DMK and Congress. “We saw in Tamil Nadu, how they stabbed their alliance within a day…” the AAP leader told ANI.
AAP leader Somnath Bharti also claimed that the Congress was “working in tandem with the BJP to weaken regional and smaller parties” across the country so that the two parties can rule the province alternately.
Meanwhile, the CPI(M) is also looking to raise the issue with the Congress regarding the charge that the Left had an understanding with the BJP in the Kerala Assembly polls. The Left parties lost the elections in the state to the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
