Ahead of the meeting of Opposition parties in Patna on June 23, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (U) leader Nitish Kumar on Tuesday cancelled his scheduled visit to Chennai, citing health reasons. Instead, Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, along with Cabinet colleague and JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha, left for Chennai to invite Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to the meet.
Mr. Kumar was scheduled to inaugurate a memorial to former TN Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president late M. Karunanidhi in Tiruvarur district and return to Patna on June 21. He was also to invite Mr. Stalin to the Opposition parties’ meeting in Patna. Leaders of about 16 Opposition parties will attend the meeting convened to put up a joint front against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the upcoming general election in 2024.
No official reason was given for the last-minute cancellation of Mr. Kumar’s visit to Tamil Nadu but his Cabinet colleague and close confidant, Vijay Kumar Choudhary, told mediapersons that “since Mr. Kumar was not keeping well, he cancelled the visit”.
Preparations under way
Meanwhile, preparations for the Opposition meeting in Patna are going on in full swing. Leaders of Opposition parties, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, AAP leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray will be present at the meeting. Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will not be participate. Mr. Gandhi is also scheduled to visit the State party headquarters at Sadaquat Ashram in Patna the same day.
“So far, we’ve got confirmation of participation of leaders from about 16 political parties. Preparations are in full swing. Mr. Kumar himself is monitoring the preparations for the stay and other amenities of the visiting leaders,” JD(U) leader and party MLC Neeraj Kumar told mediapersons. The famous Bihari traditional dish Litti-Chokha and other delicacies will be served to the Opposition leaders. The meeting is likely to take place at the Samvad Kendra hall located on the premises of Chief Minister’s official residence 1, Anne Marg.
The State guest house and Circuit House are being spruced up. Over 25 rooms in a luxury hotel have been booked for the stay of the participating leaders and their associates.
Some senior leaders of the JD(U) and ally Rashtriya Janata Dal, preferring anonymity, told The Hindu that the participating Opposition leaders are “expected to speak on how there has been a consistent attack on the country’s social, democratic and constitutional fabric by the ruling party led by the BJP at the Centre”. “ A proposal too may come up at the meeting to put up common candidates in at least 400-450 Lok Sabha seats against the BJP in the upcoming general election to defeat the party and dethrone PM Narendra Modi,” they said.
The meeting was earlier scheduled for June 12 in Patna but as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was abroad and party president Mallikarjun Kharge too had expressed inability to attend citing personal reasons, it was further rescheduled for June 23.
