New Delhi: In a major step towards forming an anti-BJP front, top Opposition leaders, with the exception of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, will discuss Monday forging a grand alliance to take on the saffron party in the 2019 general elections.
The meeting scheduled for November for 22 could not be held due to Assembly elections in five states. It is being held a day before the announcement of results of MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly polls and the winter session of Parliament is slated to begin.
Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu who is coordinating the meeting has invited the leaders of all non-BJP parties. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are likely to attend the meet, during which the Opposition is expected to chalk out a joint strategy for the winter session of Parliament.
During the meeting at the Parliament House Annexe, the opposition parties were expected to discuss their responses to government bills and issues related to the Rafale deal and farmers, sources said.
Not only the heads of non-BJP parties, but also the chief ministers of opposition parties from Kerala, Punjab and Puducherry were invited to the meeting. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy are expected to attend the meeting.
However, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was unlikely to be part of the meeting, the sources said, adding he might join the anti-BJP alliance after the general elections. Similarly, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati was also unlikely to take part in the meeting, but her close aide Satish Chandra Mishra might attend it, a source said.
Naidu had last month met the heads of several opposition parties, including Rahul Gandhi, and termed the TDP’s alliance with the Congress a “democratic compulsion” to protect the country. Naidu is reported to have telephonically called Patnaik to attend the meeting and the Chief Minister is reported to have expressed his preoccupations.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav are also among those likely to attend the meeting.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav or senior party leader Ram Gopal Yadav may attend the Opposition meet.
Sources said there could be pre-poll as well as post-poll alliances, taking into account the interest of each state.
“Price rise, the ill-effects of demonetisation and the GST, unemployment and threats to the Constitution will also be on the agenda of the meeting,” NCP leader DP Tripathi said.
AAP leaders have also confirmed the party’s participation in the Opposition conclave called by Naidu.