Opposition parties' meeting in Patna likely to take place on June 12

The much-awaited meeting of parties opposed to the BJP may be held here on June 12, according to hints that have emanated from a meeting of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) here on Sunday.

While no significant office bearer confirmed or denied the same, many present at the meeting said on condition of anonymity that the disclosure was made by the chief minister himself.

Kumar, the JD(U)'s supreme leader, has been pitching for "opposition unity" ever since he snapped ties with the BJP in August last year, following accusations that the ally was trying to create fissures in his party and diminish his standing.

 

Kumar, who is now heading an alliance government in Bihar which includes RJD, Congress and the Left, has reached out to leaders like Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, all of whom are opposed to BJP but not very comfortable with the grand old party either.

In fact, the idea of hosting a meeting of opposition leaders in Patna was floated by Banerjee, who had invoked the memory of Jayaprakash Narayan upon meeting Kumar in Kolkata last month.

As part of the "opposition unity" drive, Kumar has held parleys with not only Congress allies like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, but also its opponents like Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao.

A meeting with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, ostensibly to seek land for a Bihar government guest house in that state, is being used by BJP to mock Kumar as the Biju Janata Dal supremo has virtually ruled out joining any broader formation.

All eyes would now be on which parties agree to be represented in the meeting, given faultlines like Congress' mistrust of Kejriwal and KCR and Banerjee's famed rivalry with the Left.