Opposition unity show in capital today

Leaders of about a dozen 'like-minded' Opposition parties will put up a show of unity in Delhi on Thursday as part of their efforts to extend their coordination against the NDA government beyond Parliament.

The Delhi event will be the beginning of a series of such meetings these parties are planning to hold in various states in the run-up to the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

Senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad along with representatives of DMK, Left, SP, RJD, NCP, JMM, RLD, JVM-P among others, are expected to speak at the 'Sanjhi Virasar Bachao" (save the composite culture) convention being organized by a joint committee of Opposition leaders under the convenorship of LJD mentor Sharad Yadav. "The conference of Opposition parties is being organized with the aim of mobilizing support for preserving the Indian constitution and protecting the composite culture of India, especially since these very principles and values have come under calculated attacks ever since the BJP-led NDA assumed power at the Centre," said Yadav.


One main focus area of the meeting will be to condemn the ongoing sectarian violence in various parts of the country in the form of lynching, and participants are expected to blame the NDA regime and the Sangh Parivar outfits for not doing enough to prevent such incidents.

The decision to hold the meeting followed a recent meeting of some senior Opposition leaders who had advocated the need for regular united Opposition events to mobilise public opinion against the RSS-BJP in the run-up to the elections.