Opposition’s 26 vs NDA’s 38 meet today: Only 9 parties have 10 seats or more in Lok Sabha

The pitched battle ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has intensified as the Bharatiya Janata Party has announced that 38 National Democratic Alliance or NDA partners have confirmed their attendance at the meeting to be held in New Delhi on Tuesday, the day 26 like-minded opposition parties will huddle for the second time within a month to strategise for the polls.

While the key agenda of the opposition parties’ Day 2 meeting in Bengaluru will be to deliberate on the issues including EVM machines, Lok Sabha seat sharing, drafting of a common minimum programme as well as deciding on the name of the united front, the BJP is hoping to retain its old allies and get new ones.

Top points on Opposition vs NDA meeting today

1. Ahead of the mega session scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said “well begun is half done”, after the opposition parties’ dinner meeting.

2. The first day of the Opposition party’s meeting started with the dinner meeting hosted by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah. After the dinner Congress leader BK Hariprasad said the meeting started with a good signal and it would be the end of BJP in 2024.

3. The draft agenda of the joint Opposition meeting is set up a subcommittee for drafting the common minimum programme and communications points for the alliance for the 2024 general elections for chalking out the joint programme of parties, which includes rallies, conventions and agitation. They have a plan to discuss the process for deciding seat sharing on a state-to-state basis and the name for the alliance is also on the table. The opposition parties may also discuss the issue of EVM and suggest reforms to the Election Commission. The opposition leaders also set up a common secretariat for the proposed alliance.

4. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, who were seated next to each other, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, chief ministers MK Stalin, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren and RJD chief Lalu Prasad were among those who attended the dinner meeting.

5. Among others at the meeting hosted by Siddaramaiah were Bihar deputy chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT), Farooq Abdullah (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP), besides Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), D Raja (CPI), Jayant Chaudhary (RLD) and MDMK MP Vaiko.

6. Eyeing a grand show of strength by the NDA, BJP president JP Nadda said on Monday that 38 parties have confirmed their participation in its meeting and slammed the opposition leaders’ unity efforts as a “selfish” exercise to protect themselves from action in cases of corruption of over ₹20 lakh crore.

7. The BJP, which was accused by its former allies of riding roughshod over partners and sidestepping consensus building on key issues, such as the farm laws that saw the party part ways with its oldest ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), is using the expanded composition of the NDA as talking point to tout of credentials of being in the pole position to lead a coalition of diverse parties. The number of NDA partners rising from 24 in 1998 to 38 now, party leaders said is an indication of the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s acceptance and popularity.

8. Both groupings are certain to have long tails. Only nine parties have 10 seats or more in the 545-member Lok Sabha (the nine account for 479 members). It is quite likely that at least some of the 26 potential constituents of the opposition grouping, and the 38 of the NDA are not represented in the Lok Sabha; only 37 parties have members in the lower house of Parliament.

9. The BJP is also hoping that ties with parties such as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Tamila Manila Congress, Kerala Congress (Thomas) and Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) will bolster its chances in the south, where it is not in power in any of the states.

10. Mamata Banerjee and Sonia Gandhi shared moments together, enquiring about each other’s health and strategising on opposition unity on the first day of the Bengaluru summit, sources told news agency PTI.