NEW DELHI: There could be an informal prelude to the Opposition unity meeting being planned in Patna, when West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee arrives in Delhi next week to attend the Niti Ayog governing Council meeting along with chief ministers from most of the other states.
While there may not be a sitting around of attending leaders, there is bound to be exchanges among them on the side lines of the Niti Ayog meeting, especially in the backdrop of Congress party’s grand victory in the Karnataka assembly polls.
Banerjee is scheduled to reach Delhi on May 26 to attend the Niti Ayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be held on May 27.
The Trinamool Congress chief has been consulting with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to have the gathering of opposition parties in Patna soon after, according to a date that is found to be suitable for all the other attending parties including Congress, it is learnt.
Kumar, convenor for the opposition unity efforts has been making the round of states to meet leaders of different parties and chief ministers to bring them on a common platform to contest the ruling BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
However, the date for the Patna meeting can only be finalised after Congress settles down following government formation in Karnataka is over. Afterall, Congress is an important component in the opposition unity effort, according to political managers working on it.
With Banerjee’s visit here coming up soon after the Congress’ Karnataka victory, it will be keenly watched whether the TMC chief has any meeting with top Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, who she often calls on while she is in the national Capital.
But, during her last visit here, Banerjee returned without having met Congress leaders. With TMC’s electoral ventures earlier, in states like Goa, Meghalaya, Tripura, etc, that was directly hurting the Congress’ interests, cutting into Congress votes, it was natural that relations between the two parties had soured to some extent, especially over vicious attacks at each other during the poll campaigns for those states.
However, with Congress being a compulsory component of any opposition unity effort against BJP, Banerjee has been suggesting for a while that regional parties should support Congress campaign in states where the national party has a strong hold and Congress should support the regional parties in their respective domains, to build up the numbers for a national battle. The strategy meeting of opposition parties are expected to work on the best possible formula that will be acceptable by all the stakeholders to put up a good fight.
While there may not be a sitting around of attending leaders, there is bound to be exchanges among them on the side lines of the Niti Ayog meeting, especially in the backdrop of Congress party’s grand victory in the Karnataka assembly polls.
Banerjee is scheduled to reach Delhi on May 26 to attend the Niti Ayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be held on May 27.
The Trinamool Congress chief has been consulting with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to have the gathering of opposition parties in Patna soon after, according to a date that is found to be suitable for all the other attending parties including Congress, it is learnt.
Kumar, convenor for the opposition unity efforts has been making the round of states to meet leaders of different parties and chief ministers to bring them on a common platform to contest the ruling BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
However, the date for the Patna meeting can only be finalised after Congress settles down following government formation in Karnataka is over. Afterall, Congress is an important component in the opposition unity effort, according to political managers working on it.
With Banerjee’s visit here coming up soon after the Congress’ Karnataka victory, it will be keenly watched whether the TMC chief has any meeting with top Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, who she often calls on while she is in the national Capital.
But, during her last visit here, Banerjee returned without having met Congress leaders. With TMC’s electoral ventures earlier, in states like Goa, Meghalaya, Tripura, etc, that was directly hurting the Congress’ interests, cutting into Congress votes, it was natural that relations between the two parties had soured to some extent, especially over vicious attacks at each other during the poll campaigns for those states.
However, with Congress being a compulsory component of any opposition unity effort against BJP, Banerjee has been suggesting for a while that regional parties should support Congress campaign in states where the national party has a strong hold and Congress should support the regional parties in their respective domains, to build up the numbers for a national battle. The strategy meeting of opposition parties are expected to work on the best possible formula that will be acceptable by all the stakeholders to put up a good fight.
