With anti-BJP front on mind, top Opposition leaders to meet today
In a major step towards forming an anti-BJP front, top Opposition leaders will huddle here on Monday to discuss forging a grand alliance to take on the saffron party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The meeting, significantly, comes a day before the results of the Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly polls are scheduled to be announced and the winter session of Parliament is slated to begin.
Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is coordinating the meeting. “The main agenda is to chart the future course of action for forming a non-BJP front,” a source said.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are likely to attend the meet, during which the Opposition is also 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
NEWDELHI:
expected to discuss their responses to government bills and issues related to the Rafale deal and farmers, sources said.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Communist Party of India general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy are expected to attend the meeting.
DMK president MK Stalin, Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal, RJD leader
Tejashwi Yadav and LJD leader Sharad Yadav are also among those likely to attend the meeting.
BSP chief Mayawati was unlikely to take part in the meeting, but her close aide Satish Chandra Mishra might attend it, a source said. SP president Akhilesh Yadav was likely to attend the meet, but in case he was unable to come, then senior party leader Ram Gopal Yadav would be present, a party source said.
“Price rise, the ill-effects of demonetisation and the GST, unemployment and threats to the Constitution will also be on the agenda,” NCP’s DP Tripathi said.