Key INDIA bloc meet in Delhi amid DMK-AAP absence, internal rifts: What's on the agenda as Oppn leaders huddle?

OPposition leaders testament encounter in new delhi tomorrow amid growing faultlines and changed force kinetics, as its regional partners, including the DMK and TMC, witnessed poll setbacks in their respective states.The crucial huddle will bring together 23 Opposition parties and include senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC's Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena (UBT). Left leaders and those from smaller parties are also likely to attend the meeting, which will take place at the Constitution Club in Delhi, PTI news agency reported.Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Aam Aadmi Party are unlikely to attend, with the former citing Congress's alliance with TVK in Tamil Nadu and the latter saying the party had “failed in challenging” the BJP. The meeting is also key to the recalibration of the Opposition bloc's strategy forward, given the poll setbacks in the recent months.What is on the agenda for the Opposition meet?📌 The Opposition parties are expected to redraw their strategy on Monday to challenge the ruling BJP, while also attempting to iron out the difference which have emerged amid the changed power dynamics in some states, according to the PTI report.📌 The alliance will also deliberate and discuss the way forward and the next course of action, with the aim to project a united front on national issues against the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.📌 The recent defeat of the TMC in West Bengal may have spurred the Opposition parties to come together, among other reasons. The meeting will be crucial as it would help them chart their future steps in the run up to the next cycle of Assembly elections and the next Lok Sabha elections in 2029.📌As TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee are set to attend the bloc meeting, party MP Derek O'Brien said the meet would be of “common purpose and clear intent.” “Many parties look forward to meeting in the spirit of camaraderie,” O'Brien added.📌There has been no official meeting of the INDIA bloc since the last official one in New Delhi on June 1, 2024 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Since then, while the leadership has since then got together formally during Parliament sessions, there has been no joint meeting.Absence of parties, internal rifts pose challengesWhile Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said 23 parties had confirmed participation and asserted that the bloc will stay united through its diversity, some parties in the bloc have expressed differences. The DMK and AAP are unlikely to attend, and the TMC is witnessing a split in its ranks after 58 of its 80 MLAs rebelled. Among the rebel MLAs, Ritabrata Banerjee met the Bengal Assembly Speaker and was appointed the Leader of Opposition in the House.While AAP has distanced itself from the bloc since the campaigning for the Delhi Assembly elections in 2025, the DMK announced its decision to boycott the meeting after the Congress snapped ties with it in Tamil Nadu following its defeat, and allied with the TVK to help it form government. As a result, the TVK is expected to be a part of the meeting on Monday.AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar on Saturday highlighted the party's issues with the Congress, saying the latter had “failed in challenging” the BJP.“The sole purpose of Congress allying with any party is to strengthen themselves, not the country…we cannot join hands with a party that is against the youth of the country…” Kakkar said, while citing the DMK-Congress rift. “We saw in Tamil Nadu, how they backstabbed their alliance in a matter of one day…” the AAP leader told ANI.AAP leader Somnath Bharti too claimed that the Congress was “working hand in glove with the BJP to weaken regional and smaller parties” across the country so that the two parties can rule the county alternately. Meanwhile, the CPI(M) too is looking to raise with the Congress the issue regarding the charge that the Left had an understanding with the BJP in the Kerala Assembly polls. The Left parties lost the elections in the state to Congress-led UDF.