oppn parties Will Opposition Unity Work Out?

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  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
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  • 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
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Will Opposition Unity Work Out?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-06-07 03:11:35

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

The opposition parties were all set to meet in Patna on June 12 with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar playing host. They were expected to sound the bugle for a united battle against the BJP in 2024. But suddenly, for no new reason, the meeting has been postponed and the venue has come under a cloud. It needs to be remembered that Patna as a venue for the meet was suggested by TMC leader and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee when Nitish Kumar had met her in Kolkata last month to propose the meeting of opposition leaders. Although after the Congress win in Karnataka Banerjee had softened her stand towards the Congress but she had cannily suggested Patna as the venue to provide Nitish the chance to call the shots and thereby keep the Congress at bay.

But it is also clear that after the impressive win in Karnataka and the good response to Rahul Gandhi's US trip, neither is the Congress is going to play second fiddle to any party in any such opposition meet nor is it going to allow any leader to usurp what the party thinks is the 'natural' right of Rahul Gandhi to lead any opposition front against the BJP in 2024.

Hence, it is also clear that although it is being given out that the meeting has been postponed as top leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and D K Stalin, among others, were not available on June 12 (although the date was finalized after Nitish had met both Gandhi and Kharge last month) and it had been decided that only top leaders will attend the meeting, the real reason is different. Actually, the Congress wants to be in the driver's seat and has now suggested that the meeting be held in Shimla (citing the hot wave conditions in Patna as the reason) with it playing host (Congress governs Himachal Pradesh). It was not reported whether leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and KCR would agree to the change in venue.

This is one hurdle that the opposition parties will have to remove permanently if they hope to present a united front in 2024. The Congress versus some regional parties battle will throw a spanner in the proposed (by Mamata Banerjee) one-to-one fight against the BJP with the strongest party in a region getting the chance to lead with all other parties abstaining from the contest and supporting that party. As is being seen, the Congress will try to keep an upper hand and is unlikely to cede total space to strong regional parties in their states. This means that opposition unity is still just a dream and it will require a lot of hard work and shedding of king-sized egos for it to actually work out. 

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