Patna Opposition meeting: Bihar's capital Patna witnessed a poster war between the ruling Mahagathbandhan and Opposition- Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) ahead of a crucial Opposition meeting which will begin in a few hours on Friday. Congress workers installed 'Mohabbat ki dukan' stalls in several locations in the city, while BJP supporters put up 'pariwar bachor' posters slamming the unity bid by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Opposition leaders to kick-start 'Mission 2024'
Meanwhile, top leaders of Opposition leaders, including Congress leaders- Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC's Mamata Banerjee and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal are reaching Patna to attend the meeting to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of an anti-BJP front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Sources said the Opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasize on building a common ground.
Leaders of 18 parties including half-a-dozen chief ministers are expected to attend the deliberations.
A day before the crucial deliberations, fissures in the Opposition ranks came to the fore with AAP sources saying that the party will walk out of the meeting if the Congress does not promise its support against the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.
Also, the Samajwadi Party would be the only party from Uttar Pradesh attending the meeting with BSP supremo Mayawati not being invited and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary set to skip the conclave due to a family programme.
Kharge, Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann (AAP), Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin (DMK), Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren (JMM), Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, Maharashtra's former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT), and NCP president Sharad Pawar are among the leaders expected to attend the first high-level opposition meeting.
The meeting is being hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (JDU) and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) here at the chief minister's 1, Aney Marg residence.
(Report by Shoeb Raza)
