New Delhi: Stressing unity against the BJP, the opposition INDIA bloc members on Monday unanimously decided to demand Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s immediate resignation over the NEET-CBSE row and write to the chief justice of India on the SIR exercise and “vote loot”.
At the meeting, top leaders of several opposition parties called for the need to safeguard democratic values and address people-centric issues such as unemployment, price rise, “atrocities” against oppressed sections, and sought an all-party meeting to discuss them along with the “precarious” economic situation in the country.
They also decided to meet after every two months to ensure opposition unity, with the next meeting scheduled in Hyderabad for August, while continuing with Parliament coordination during the upcoming Monsoon Session.
The BJP has called the INDIA bloc “a figment of imagination” that lacked conviction on the ground, claiming that there was an implosion within the opposition alliance with disagreements involving the Congress, DMK, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Left parties.
Leaders of 22 opposition parties and Independent MP Kapil Sibal were part of the deliberations that lasted for more than two-and-a-half hours at the Constitution Club, amid a BJP surge in the run-up to the next Assembly elections cycle and the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
Earlier, Kharge had said that leaders of 25 opposition parties met on Monday.
The DMK, a key INDIA bloc constituent, did not attend the meeting, while the AAP had already distanced itself from the grouping.
Despite speculation, Tamil Nadu’s ruling party TVK did not attend the opposition meeting.
The meeting was held in the backdrop of differences emerging among some of the INDIA bloc partners, including the Left and the Congress over the charge made during the recent Kerala polls that the Left had a political understanding with the BJP.
John Brittas of the CPI-M and D Raja of the CPI raised the issue with the Congress during the meeting.
Trinamool Congress’ Mamata Banerjee raised the issue of alleged “political retribution” during and after the recent West Bengal polls.
The deliberations began with a call to forge unity and rework the opposition strategy to take on the BJP, while ironing out the differences within after the defeat of regional outfits Trinamool Congress and DMK in the recent Assembly polls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, respectively.
The meeting also came at a time when the Narendra Modi government completed 12 years in office in its third consecutive term.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We have agreed on five issues. A letter would be sent to the chief justice of India (CJI) soon on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, ‘vote loot’ and ‘stealing of elections’.
“It was also unanimously agreed to demand the immediate resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan because he presided over the betrayal of lakhs of youth who appeared in NEET and CBSE,” he said.
Flanked by Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and other senior leaders of the grouping, Kharge said, “We are going to raise many people-centric issues, which all the parties have unanimously agreed to.”
“The opposition leaders also decided to continue coordination during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, with daily morning meetings at the office of the leader of opposition,” he added.
The Congress veteran also said that all the opposition leaders aired their views freely at the meeting, which Shiv Sena-UBT’s Uddhav Thackeray and JMM’s Hemant Soren joined virtually.
Among those who attended the meeting were Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge from the Congress, Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee from the Trinamool Congress, Akhilesh Yadav from the Samajwadi Party, Tejashwi Yadav from the RJD, Omar Abdullah from the National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti from the PDP, along with Left leaders.
NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule, CPI(M)’s Brittas, CPI’s Raja and leaders of some smaller parties were also part of the deliberations.
Kharge urged the opposition leaders to strengthen unity to confront the political, economic, social and foreign policy challenges facing the country due to the Modi government’s “misgovernance”.
He claimed that the assault on the Constitution continued while the probe agencies were persistently being used as tools to “harass”, “intimidate”, and “bully” political opponents.
He also pointed to the “complete mismanagement” of the examination system, dashing the hopes and aspirations of lakhs of youth.
According to sources, Rahul Gandhi told the meeting that he was 100 per cent sure that elections are “robbed” in the country.
The ex-Congress chief also stressed unity, and said one must bring everyone together with love and affection.
The issue of aligning with the youth-led political movement Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) also cropped up during the discussions, with Akhilesh Yadav and Omar Abdullah calling for associating with the outfit, and Mamata Banerjee speaking about supporting civil society movements.
Akhilesh Yadav, who spoke about “vote chori” and said the Bengal polls were “robbed”, appealed to the Congress to show a big heart and back the strongest regional parties.
Uddhav Thackeray also lauded Banerjee for having fought the polls like a “lioness”.
RJD’ Tejashwi Yadav said the bloc’s strategy must focus on the 2029 Lok Sabha polls and urged everyone to hit the streets.
Omar Abdullah urged all the opposition parties to look ahead at the 2029 general elections, stressing that the Congress is the glue that holds the INDIA bloc together.
The last official meeting of the INDIA bloc was held in Delhi on June 1, 2024, after the Lok Sabha polls. The bloc originally comprised more than 25 parties.
