Not a setback for Oppn unity: D Raja on AAP’s stance after Patna meet

Patna: With the Aam Aadmi Party striking a discordant note over the Patna meeting, CPI general secretary D Raja has said it was “not a setback” for Opposition unity and asserted that as independent political parties there can be “small angularities” on certain matters but those were being overcome.

He also said the leadership of the Opposition bloc was not an issue for now but the BJP was raising such matters as it was afraid of the outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

After the crucial meeting of Opposition parties here, Raja stressed the secular democratic parties that have come together are capable of taking a decision on any issue “collectively.”

Asked if the next step for the Opposition grouping would be to finalise seat sharing and a common agenda, he said they have told the people of this country through a joint press conference that they are all together and have the resolve to defeat the BJP to save the nation and Constitution. “The other follow-up actions will be discussed, we will cross the bridge when it comes,” he said at CPI office. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann attended the meeting, but skipped the press conference that followed.

Asked if it was a setback for Opposition unity, Raja said: “I don’t think it is a setback. In fact, in a way it is positive also, one should take it like that because we are all independent political parties, there can be small angularities on certain issues but we are overcoming those and we have agreed to come together.”