New Delhi, June 8 -- Twenty-three political parties of the opposition INDIA bloc will meet here on Monday to forge unity and rework their strategy to take on the BJP, while ironing out differences within after the defeat of regional outfits like the TMC and DMK in the recent assembly polls.

Top opposition leaders, including Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC's Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav of RJD and Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena (UBT), besides Left leaders and those from smaller parties, are set to attend the meeting at 12 noon at the Constitution Club.

The meeting of top opposition leaders comes after a long time as the last time they met was during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi had in August last year hosted the opposition leaders at his residence that brought together nearly 50 leaders from over 25 opposition parties. Issues of alleged electoral manipulation, particularly the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar, was raised at that meeting.

The INDIA bloc leadership has since then got together formally during consultations ahead of Parliament sessions, when opposition parties discussed floor coordination and issues to be jointly raised against the central government.

The DMK and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will not be part of the deliberations as they have opted out of the bloc.

The AAP has already publicly distanced itself from the bloc, while the DMK earlier announced its decision to boycott the gathering after the Congress snapped ties with it in Tamil Nadu and joined the TVK-led government.

The alliance is set to deliberate on the future course of action and will aim to put a united face to take on the Modi government on national issues in the run-up to the next election cycle in states and the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.

The recent defeat of Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal has also forced the opposition bloc to come together to take on the saffron surge in the country. The TMC is likely to raise the issue of alleged attacks on its leaders in Bengal and rally support of INDIA bloc parties.

The recent assembly elections have, however, also brought out differences within the opposition bloc, with the CPI-M set to raise with the Congress the charge that the Left had a political understanding with the BJP in Kerala polls.

The Left parties lost against the Congress-led UDF in the only state they were in power. The issue is likely to be raised at the meeting.

Ahead of the INDIA bloc meeting, the BJP said the opposition alliance is "a figment of imagination" and lacks conviction on the ground.

However, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said like India, the "INDIA janbandhan" continues to stand united through its diversity.

The last official meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was held in New Delhi on June 1, 2024, just ahead of the Lok Sabha election.

The INDIA bloc originally constituted over 25 parties.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.