Patna, June 5: The planned Opposition unity meeting, originally slated for June 12, is likely to be postponed to June 23 due to the unavailability of senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, sources have revealed. Finalizing the new date is dependent on obtaining consensus from all like-minded parties involved.
This development comes as a setback to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav’s efforts. Rahul Gandhi’s absence from the country is cited as the primary reason for the meeting’s postponement, with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also expressing reluctance for a gathering in Patna.
Following the success of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in the Karnataka assembly elections, the Congress party’s morale is high. Moreover, with three out of four upcoming Assembly elections (Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh) preceding the Lok Sabha elections, where Congress faces a direct contest with the BJP, victory in these states would likely boost voter sentiment in favor of the Congress party.
Additionally, holding the meeting in Bihar would imply that Nitish Kumar is leading the opposition camp, an arrangement that the Congress party vehemently opposes, according to the sources.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had proposed Patna as the meeting venue due to her strained relationship with Congress. Recently, she managed to sway one of Congress’s MLAs to join the Trinamool Congress (TMC) fold.
