A Hoda / Staff Reporter / PATNA
The capital city of Patna is all set to witness the first joint meeting of 18-odd Opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls today. Leaders including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin have arrived to attend the meet.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that “Congress’ ideology can never be separated from Bihar”. He also said that Rahul Gandhi was instrumental in bringing together Opposition leaders from across the country. Kharge added, “If we win Bihar, we will win India. Kharge was addressing party workers at the Congress office in Patna, ahead of the joint Opposition meeting.
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee YESTERDAY ARRIVED in Patna with her No 2 Abhishek Banerjee, making a straight dash to meet Lalu and family; Kejriwal was in along with AAP Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and senior party leaders Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha; and all the way from Kashmir was PDP leader and former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary will skip the event because of a “pre-decided family programme”.
JD(U) had also announced that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati was not invited for the meet.
Congress will win Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, MP, says Rahul Gandhi ahead of Opposition meeting
Addressing Congress workers ahead of the Opposition meeting in Patna, Rahul Gandhi said that in the upcoming Assembly elections in Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Congress will win and “BJP will be nowhere to be seen.”
He also accused BJP of having “Bharat Todo” ideology.
“Wherever I went during Bharat Jodo Yatra, I met people from Bihar. They all joined us because they believe in our ideology and understand it deeply,” he said.
Rahul also said that BJP spreads hate and violence in the country, which Congress is trying to counter with “mohabbat”.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday said if democracy has to survive after 2024, then political parties will have to show a big heart in the national interest to instil confidence among voters. In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and K Chandrasekhar Roa-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) have national ambitions, but this will help Prime Minister Narendra Modi indirectly and support “dictatorship”.