oppn parties A United Front To Take On The BJP?

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
A United Front To Take On The BJP?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-06-21 15:23:38

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Sharad Pawar met election strategist Prashant Kishore in Mumbai on June 11. It set off a buzz in political circles that something was cooking. It was believed then that Pawar was trying to bring the opposition together to take on the Narendra Modi and the BJP in 2024. Pawar met Kishor again in Delhi today and later Pawar, along with Yashwant Sinha of Rashtra Manch who had joined the Trinamool Congress in March this year, sent out invites to a cross section of opposition leaders for a meeting tomorrow.

It is now clear that Pawar is trying to form a front of opposition parties on the advice of Prashant Kishor. Fresh from his electrifying performance in helping the  Trinamool Congress blunt the BJP's all-out attack in West Bengal, Kishor must have impressed upon Pawar that the BJP has to be beaten in individual states by different strategies. Pawar is the canniest politician in India and he must have understood what Kishor was trying to say. The result is that a meeting of opposition leaders is now on to take it forward. It was disclosed by NCP leader Nawab Malik that some 'eminent persons' from different fields have also been invited to give their inputs. 

Since this will be the first such meeting, not much can be expected from it. Further, one thinks that in this meeting, none of the top shots of the various national and regional parties will attend. They will send representatives. Only when things start moving forward in real earnest will the top honchos meet. Yet, for the opposition it is very important to come together on a common platform and decide on a joint strategy to take on the BJP. It is rumoured that the effort will start from the state elections in UP next year and will be taken forward depending on the performance.

But for the effort to succeed, it needs the full support of the Congress. Whether it is liked or not, despite its continuous slide in the last 7 years, the Congress still remains the only party after the BJP to have an all-India infrastructure, is the ruling party in three states and is an alliance partner in another state. It is the only all-India alternative to the BJP. Hence, it is absolutely essential to have it on board.

It is obvious that Sharad Pawar will use his influence with Sonia Gandhi to convince her to come on board. That is not the problem. The problem is that the Congress will insist that Rahul Gandhi be made the joint opposition candidate for the Prime Minister's post. The problems will start there. It is unlikely that some regional parties will accept him. If Pawar can manage to force a consensus on the common face of the front to take on Modi, he can have a front in place and then the BJP will have a fight on its hands. 

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