Ahead of the grand meeting of opposition parties in Patna on June 23, Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Thursday announced that she would skip the meeting and clarified her stance against an opposition alliance.
Leaders as diverse as Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin, Sharad Pawar, Mehbooba Mufti and Hemant Soren and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are expected to take part in the meeting convened by Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, who dumped the BJP last year.
Mayawati said that the opposition raising issues together ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the Patna meeting organized by Nitish Kumar tomorrow "was more like joining hands, not hearts".
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"In a country suffering from inflation, poverty, unemployment, backwardness, illiteracy, ethnic hatred, religious violence etc., it is clear from the state of the Bahujans that parties like the Congress and BJP are not capable of implementing the humanistic egalitarian constitution framed by Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar," said the former UP chief minister.
"It would have been better if before preparing for such an alliance keeping 2024 Lok Sabha election in mind, these parties had cleared their mind and intention. In UP, 80 Lok Sabha seats are crucial but it does not seem so from the attitude of the opposition parties. Are they serious? Without the right priorities, will there be any change?" Mayawati wrote in a long Twitter post.
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In a press release on June 21, Mayawati spoke out against the BJP and said it was keeping a watch on the activities of other Opposition parties.
“Necessary directions were issued after getting a detailed report about the preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In this context, a close watch is being kept on ongoing activities that the Opposition parties are doing to deal with the political scenario that is because of the actions of BJP and its Central government,” Mayawati said.
The meeting on June 23 will be convened by JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar in a bid to forge an opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Sources said the meeting was being seen as a starting point for the Opposition to come together to take on the Narendra Modi-led BJP.
