In what would become an unprecedented summit from the Indian opposition parties in recent decades, the leaders who are on the other side of aisle against the ruling BJP regime are all set to come together to cement a strong solidarity, despite their political disparities, with a single motive of defeating the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. 

The Opposition leaders' meet will be hosted by Patna, Bihar on Friday - June 23. The leaders from across the country would rub shoulders to work out their preparations for the general elections and to share their major objective of ousting the BJP regime. During the meeting, the leaders would prepare the first draft of their united fight against the BJP. 

While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is organising the united front, the leaders from the Congress party and other regional leaders including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be taking part in the summit. Responding about the meet, Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that all the opposition parties will fight together in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. 

On Thursday, she reached Patna and met Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. While speaking to the reporters, Mamata Banerjee said, "Will fight together, will fight like a family." Speaking about the meeting earlier, Banerjee said, "We hope it will be good and collective decisions will be taken. I feel that to save the country from disaster, people will vote against the BJP."

While all eyes are on the Patna meeting, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party's chief Arvind Kejriwal took the spotlight on Thursday by issuing a warning. Arvind Kejriwal is rising as an important national leader and his politics are driven against both the BJP and the Congress party. It was indeed Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that became a competitive rival of the Congress and the latter's rule was ousted in Punjab by AAP in the last assembly polls. 

In the opposition front, both the Congress and AAP are crossing swords and when the Patna's opposition meeting was announced, the nation was closely watching how both the parties are going to come to the table and pledge their unity amidst their tussle. As Kejriwal is waging a legal and political battle against the BJP in Delhi, he has now given a warning that could apparently divide and mar the opposition's unity. 

In a last-minute twist, Arvind Kejriwal said that he would boycott the opposition leaders' meet if the Congress party doesn't announce its support to the AAP's battle against the Modi government's ordinance to suppress its power in Delhi. As Kejriwal has put the ball on the Congress's court, the party is yet to respond to his warning and his boycott would be a critical setback for the Patna blueprint.

The meeting, which would have the presence of 18 parties, has been seen as a parallel to a call for unity from Patna 48 years ago that led to the Emergency and fall of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Some of the leaders who would take part in the meeting include Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP's Sharad Pawar, and CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yetchury. Arvind Kejriwal was also in the list and he has now made his participation uncertain.