Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal takes initiative for third front, planned meeting with 7 CMs: Reports
New Delhi/IBNS: In a renewed effort towards a third front ahead of the 2024 general elections, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to chief ministers of seven states for a dinner to form a forum of non-BJP parties. However, the plan did not meet success with the invitees returning a less-than-warm response, media reports said.
Kejriwal, who has been battling the Centre and its representative- the Lieutenant Governor- since coming to power in 2014, wrote to seven counterparts, inviting them to Delhi on March 18.
The idea for the dinner meeting was to unite on a common cause and form a "progressive group of Chief Ministers" battling the Centre on similar issues.
The letter, accessed by NDTV, was sent on Feb 5 to Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan, Tamil Nadu's MK Stalin, Jharkhand's Hemant Soren and others.
According to reports, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who was also among the invitees, had turned it down, citing poor health.
Earlier Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was also seen by many to take a leadership role after he broke away from the BJP a second time, insisted that he was not looking for the Prime Minister's post.
A united opposition for 2024 appears to be a long shot even though the Congress party has declared that it is ready to work with like-minded parties, without seeking any leadership role in the alliance.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav last Friday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata in what was seen as a strategy for these two parties to stay aloof from the Congress-led opposition ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The meeting highlighted the parties' agenda to counter the BJP's attempt to portray Congress MP Rahul Gandhi as a key leader of a grouping of opposition parties.
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