Oppn meet in Patna on June 23; Rahul, Mamata, Kejriwal, Stalin agree to attend, says Tejashw

PTI, Patna, Jun 7, 2023 : A meeting of opposition parties, organised by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, will be held in Patna on June 23, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav said on Wednesday. 

Addressing a press conference with JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh by his side, 

Yadav said that top leaders of most opposition parties, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal have agreed to attend the meeting. 

The meeting was earlier scheduled to be held on June 12, but was put off after some of the parties, including the Congress and the DMK, requested a change in date. 

Nitish Kumar had recently said he was opposed to parties sending any leader except their respective heads to the meeting where the anti-BJP players will chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Yadav, along with the JD(U) president, highlighted the importance of their meeting as a significant event for the nation. 

They aim to convey a message of opposition unity in combating what they perceive as the BJP's autocratic style of governance and attempts to undermine the constitution and democratic fabric of the country. 

Both leaders expressed concerns about the alleged presence of an undeclared emergency under the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Center, further claiming that individuals who question the government's policies are being subjected to harassment. 

Tejashwi Yadav and the JD(U) president expressed a shared perspective on these matters.