In Opposition meet, calls to include smaller parties in anti-BJP front

Several leaders raised the issue of including parties with no representation in Parliament in Opposition deliberations during a virtual meeting called by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday.

Nineteen Opposition parties attended the meeting, where several leaders like TMC chief Mamata Banerjee raised the issue of including smaller parties in such deliberations, sources said.

The idea is to unite all regional forces, however small, into the Opposition fray, the West Bengal chief minister said.

The sources indicated that Banerjee pushed for the inclusion of the CPI(ML), which bagged 12 seats in the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls, in such meetings.

She also said a core committee should be set up by the Opposition parties to deliberate on such issues before the leaders meet formally. Gandhi agreed to her proposal.

Other senior leaders said parties such as the Forward Bloc should be invited to such meetings.

They also pointed out that parties that are at odds with the Congress like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) should also be invited.

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However, as of now, no final decision has been taken in this regard.

The sources said the proposal to bring all anti-BJP parties under the umbrella of a united Opposition gains significance as it comes soon after the show of unity in Parliament.

"It is no longer floor coordination, but it has now extended to party coordination. Several leaders proposed that parties with no representation in Parliament should also be included in such meetings.

"The sense is that before the Uttar Pradesh election (next year), the Opposition should be a united front," a senior leader said.

While the Samajwadi Party (SP) had no representation at the meeting, party chief Akhilesh Yadav gave his nod to a joint statement issued by the Opposition parties. The sources said Yadav called CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury to express his inability to join the meeting, but gave his approval to a draft of the statement prepared by the Left party.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati was invited to the meeting, but there was no response from her, the sources added.