INDIA bloc to meet on June 8 amid strain; Trinamool, DMK set to attend

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The June 8 meeting is seen as an effort to project unity of the INDIA bloc. File | Photo Credit: ANI

Leaders of the INDIA bloc are set to meet in the Capital on June 8. Trinamool Congress president and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has often maintained a distance from the Opposition bloc, is expected to attend, among others.

Attention will also be on the DMK, which is upset with the Congress after it snapped ties and allied with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to join the government in Tamil Nadu. Earlier, DMK Lok Sabha leader K. Kanimozhi had written to Speaker Om Birla urging that her party’s members be allotted seats in the Lok Sabha away from the Congress.

According to sources, 17 Opposition parties are likely to attend the meeting. Participants are expected to include Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Ms. Banerjee is likely to be accompanied by her nephew and Trinamool national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee. Several Opposition parties had recently rallied behind Mr. Banerjee, criticising the BJP over an attack on him in West Bengal.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray are also scheduled to be in Delhi for the meeting.

DMK to boycott June 8 INDIA bloc meeting over Congress ‘betrayal’

The Aam Aadmi Party, which severed ties with the INDIA bloc nearly a year ago, is unlikely to attend, particularly as the Congress remains the principal Opposition in Punjab, the only State where the AAP is in power.

The last time top INDIA bloc leaders shared a common platform was in December 2023, ahead of the general elections, when they had agreed to field a common candidate against the BJP in each Lok Sabha constituency — an arrangement that did not work in several States. Since then, while the bloc has met on multiple occasions to strategise inside and outside Parliament, its top leadership has not come together. The meeting