“We want to fight together…”: Mallikarjun Kharge ahead of Opposition meet in Patna

New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge would attend the opposition unity meeting in Patna on Friday along with party leader Rahul Gandhi.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Kharge said that the opposition parties’ agenda is to remove the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre and they all would fight together.
“We all want to fight together against BJP and our agenda is to remove the BJP government,” Kharge said while talking to the media as he left for the opposition meeting in Bihar’s Patna.

Speaking on the issue of the Centre’s Ordinance put forward by the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Congress President said that they will take a decision on this before the Parliament session.

“We will take a decision on this (on supporting AAP against the Centre’s ordinance) before the Parliament session,” he said.

Ahead of the Opposition party meeting in Patna, Arvind Kejriwal has urged Opposition parties, including the Congress to clarify their stand on the Centre’s ordinance on control of administrative services in the national capital.

Leaders of Opposition parties from across the country are set to meet in Patna to chalk out a strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Opposition picked Patna as a venue for its meeting as it represents the 1974 call of total revolution by Jayaprakash Narayan that toppled Indira Gandhi’s majority government.

The meeting will be hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with the aim to arrive at a consensus to forge a united Opposition front to take on the BJP.

As leaders of several opposition parties arrived in Patna on Thursday, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary decided to skip the conclave due to a “pre-decided family programme”. Chaudhary, however, hoped the meeting will be an “important milestone in the path of opposition unity”.

This came after the Janata Dal (United), which is hosting the meet, said Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has not been invited to the event.

The meeting has been called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar and will be attended by leaders of parties opposed to the BJP.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti were among the leaders who reached Patna ahead of the meeting.