New Delhi June 8 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday attended the INDIA bloc meeting in the national capital, joining leaders of opposition parties for discussions on political and national issues.
The meeting, aimed at strengthening coordination among opposition parties and chalking out a strategy against the BJP-led government at the Centre, was attended by senior leaders including Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray attended the meeting virtually.
In his opening remarks, Kharge said the opposition had demonstrated unity in Parliament while opposing the Centre’s delimitation-related bills and called for strengthening that spirit to address political, economic, social and foreign policy challenges facing the country.
The meeting comes amid differences within the INDIA bloc, with some constituents raising concerns over alliance dynamics in their respective states.
The DMK stayed away from the meeting, citing differences with the Congress over its political moves in Tamil Nadu. The CPI(M) has also expressed reservations over the Congress’ campaign against the Left in Kerala, while the JMM is understood to be unhappy over the Congress’ decision regarding a Rajya Sabha candidature in Jharkhand.
Despite the differences, Congress leaders asserted that 23 parties were participating in the meeting and said even those not attending remained opposed to the policies of the Narendra Modi government.(KNS).
