Leaders of 17 political parties in India On Friday, I agreed to form a united front against the prime minister Narendra Modi The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Loose coalitions have been formed in the past, but not since the 1980s have so many different parties come together at the national level to take over the ruling party in government, Indian Express mentioned.
Said Rahul Gandhi, one of the key figures in the Indian National Congress who was Disqualified from Parliament in March in a defamation case.
The meeting was hosted by Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of the eastern state of Bihar, and was held in Patna, the state capital.
“Everyone agreed that we will all work together for the good of the country,” said Kumar of the United Janata Dal Party.
“There is an agreement to go forward and there was an agreement to run in the elections together,” he added.
Leaders target Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party
The meeting brought together senior politicians from a wide range of parties who were determined to deny Modi a third term as prime minister.
“If this dictatorial government returns this time, there will be no elections in the future,” he said. Hindu Reported Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee According to him.
But representatives of some parties sat at the press conference that followed the meeting on Friday.
The Times of India It stated that the Aam Aadmi Party would not join any alliance with the Transitional National Congress until it condemned the controversial central government decree affecting bureaucrats appointed in the capital.
On the other hand, the BJP dismissed the opposition talks as a “futile exercise”.
What’s next for the opposition?
The two sides will meet again next month to formulate a strategy Defeat of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party at the polls.
This will include the nomination of joint candidates in certain constituencies across the country to prevent the BJP from taking advantage of a split vote among opposition parties.
Kumar said the parties will also draw up a joint statement outlining their plan for the Indian economy, among other issues.
“There are many hurdles that must be overcome before a suitable opposition united front can be formed,” political analyst Aarti Gerat told the Associated Press.
“But I think the compulsions for the opposition parties to present a unified challenge to Modi is very, very great because they have all faced harassment from the federal investigation agencies in the last four years and the BJP has played politics with all of them to break these parties and harass their leaders.”
“If they don’t pose a unified challenge to Modi and somehow prevent him from coming back, then they all know it will be the end of the road for them because the BJP will not really allow any of these opposition parties, especially the Congress to survive.”
zc/rs (Reuters, AP)