Opposition Unity Meet in Patna May be Rescheduled to June 23

Patna: The much-awaited Opposition unity meet originally scheduled for June 12 in Bihar’s Patna is likely to be deferred to June 23. This is expected because of unavailability of senior Congress party leaders, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.

According to sources, organizers are taking the consent of all the like-minded parties before finalizing the date. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav have played a key role in organizing this Opposition unity meet.

The major reason for the postponement of this meeting is Rahul Gandhi’s absence from the country. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge has shown his reluctance to attend the meeting in Patna. After the success in the Karnataka assembly election, the morale of Congress party is high. In 2023, assembly elections are to be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh. In all these States Congress faces a direct fight with BJP.

Congress leaders feel, if the party fares better and wins elections in these three states, the mood of voters would go in its favour in the Lok Sabha polls. Congress is also reluctant to pass on the baton to Nitish Kumar as the unifier of the opposition against the BJP.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Benerjee had proposed Patna as the meeting venue, and her relation with the Congress is not so good. Recently, the lone Congress MLA in West Bengal has been inducted into the TMC.