Leaders of 19 oppn parties to meet after Karnataka elections: Cong sources

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to host the meeting sometime next month and has already spoken to leaders of several other parties in this regard, said sources

New Delhi: A meeting of top opposition leaders of around 19 parties for forging a joint front against the BJP will be held after the Karnataka assembly elections, Congress sources said on Monday.

The leaders were to meet up by the end of April earlier. Sources said the meeting has been delayed because of the May 10 Karnataka assembly elections.

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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to host the meeting sometime next month and has already spoken to leaders of several other parties in this regard, the sources said.

There has been a flurry of meetings in the Opposition camp which has shown a sense of urgency in recent weeks for taking forward talks to put up a united front against the BJP.

On Monday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met his West Bengal counterpart and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, saying that efforts were on to bring on board as many opposition parties as possible.

Sources said Kharge is also likely to speak to Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee in the coming days.

Nitish Kumar had met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi earlier this month.

No welfare work is being done by the present dispensation which is only relying on publicity, the JD(U) leader said on Monday attacking the BJP after meeting Akhilesh Yadav at the SP office in Lucknow.

“I am not looking for any position for myself. My endeavour is to work for the country’s good,” Kumar, who was accompanied by RJD leader and Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, told reporters.

He alleged that efforts are being made to change the history of the country.

Akhilesh Yadav raised the issue of price rise and said there was a need to remove the BJP government without any delay.

The Bihar chief minister had come to Lucknow after meeting Banerjee in Kolkata earlier in the day.

Banerjee asked Nitish Kumar to set up a meeting of all opposition parties in Bihar to “prepare together” for the next Lok Sabha polls in 2024.

“I have made just one request to Nitish Kumar. Jayaprakash ji’s movement started from Bihar.

“If we have an all-party meeting in Bihar, we can then decide where we have to go next,” said Banerjee after the meeting, adding that the first meeting would be “gharoa” (informal) and issues like a common manifesto, etc. could come later.

Socialist leader Jayprakash Narayan, popularly called JP, launched his `Total Revolution’ movement against alleged misrule and corruption in 1974 from Patna.

“I want the BJP to become zero. They have become a big hero with the media’s support, lies and fake videos,” she claimed.