Amid disarray within the INDIA bloc, with at least three major constituents—the DMK, the CPI(M) and the JMM—raising questions about Monday’s meeting (June 8, 2026) of the Opposition coalition, the Congress on Sunday (June 7, 2026) sought to project unity, asserting that 23 parties would participate in the gathering in Delhi and that even those skipping it had conveyed their “strong opposition” to the Narendra Modi government’s policies.
The bloc has been grappling with one crisis after another. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has already announced that it will not attend the meeting, calling the Congress’s decision to tie up with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Tamil Nadu a “betrayal”.
Separately, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby has written to all INDIA bloc partners, underlining the Congress’ campaign against the Left in Kerala, while Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is learnt to be unhappy with the Congress unilaterally announcing its candidate for one of the two Rajya Sabha seats that are up for election in Jharkhand.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, said 23 political parties had confirmed participation in the “INDIA janbandhan” meeting. “There are some parties that have expressed their inability to attend this particular meeting for their own reasons, even though they have conveyed their strong opposition to the Modi government’s policies,” Mr. Ramesh said.
According to sources, the meeting was convened at the insistence of the Trinamool Congress, which is facing internal strains in West Bengal. Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee are expected to attend.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien, quoting Mr. Ramesh’s post on X, said, “Meeting with a common purpose and clear intent. INDIA united. Many parties look forward to meeting in the spirit of camaraderie.” Like India itself, the “INDIA janbandhan” continues to stand united through its diversity, he added.
Indicating the agenda of the meeting, Mr. Ramesh said Opposition parties were united against the government’s actions, including “attempts to snatch away the right to vote for millions of Indians”, “assault the Constitution daily”, “attack Opposition leaders through investigative agencies”, “seriously damage the livelihoods of crores of Indians”, “break household budgets through relentless price rise”, “betray hopes and aspirations of lakhs of youth”, “dampen the investment climate”, and “compromise the national interest through its foreign policy”.
Published - June 07, 2026 04:09 pm IST
alliances and coalition / Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam / Indian National Congress / All India Trinamool Congress
Source: The Hindu - India News
