Leaders of 17 political parties in India on Friday agreed to form a united front against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Loose coalitions have been formed in the past, but not so many different parties have banded together nationally to take over the ruling party since the 1980s, The Indian Express reported.
“There will certainly be some differences between us, but we have decided that we will work together and work flexibly,” said Rahul Gandhi, a key figure in the Indian National Congress (INC), who was expelled from parliament in March for defamation.
The meeting was hosted by the Prime Minister of the eastern state of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, and was held in the state capital, Patna.
“Everyone agreed that we will all work together in the interests of the country,” said Kumar of the Janata Dal-United Party.
“There is agreement to act together, there is agreement to contest the elections together.”
Top politicians target Modi’s BJP
The meeting brought together senior politicians from a wide range of parties who are determined to deny Modi a third term as prime minister.
“If this dictatorial government returns this time, there will be no elections in the future,” said West Bangal Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee.
However, representatives of some parties sat away from the press conference after the meeting on Friday.
The Times of India reported that the Aam Aadmi Party will not join any alliance with the INC until it denounces a controversial central government regulation affecting bureaucrats based in the capital.
Meanwhile, the BJP dismissed the talks with the opposition as a “vain exercise”.
What next for the opposition?
The parties will meet again next month to formulate a strategy to defeat the Hindu nationalist BJP in the elections.
This includes fielding joint candidates in specific constituencies across the country to prevent the BJP from benefiting from vote splitting among opposition parties.
Kumar said the parties would also draft a joint manifesto outlining their plan for the Indian economy, among other things.
“Many hurdles must be overcome before a true opposition united front can take shape,” political analyst Arti Jerath told the Associated Press.
“But I think the pressures on opposition parties to collectively challenge Modi are very, very great, because for the past four years they have all been harassed by state law enforcement agencies and the BJP has engaged in policy with all of them to break it. “parties and harass their leaders.”
“Unless they collectively challenge Modi and somehow prevent him from coming back, they all know that this will be the end of the road for them because the BJP will not really allow any of these opposition parties, especially not to survive Congress”, he said.
zc/rs (Portal, AP)