What Will Be The Name Of The Alliance Of Opposition Parties Against BJP?

The leaders from the Opposition Parties on Friday had a meeting in Patna with the aim to build unity among like-minded parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

It has now been reported that the alliance or the proposed opposition bloc could be called the "Patriotic Democratic Alliance" or PDA, Hindustan Times reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja has told the daily over phone that the group might be called as "Patriotic Democratic Alliance". "We can say the new alliance could be named Patriotic Democratic Alliance (PDA). We have not taken a final decision on it. We have the primary objective of defeating the NDA and all the opposition parties have a clarity on it," the daily quoted him as saying.

He highlighted that the opposition parties joining the proposed coalition possess a shared commitment to secularism and democracy and the name of the new coalition would reflect these values, drawing parallels with existing alliances such as the Secular Democratic Front in Tamil Nadu and the Mahagatbandhan in Bihar.

The Congress, the Left and many regional parties had formed the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) in 2004.

On Friday, a total of 17 opposition parties resolved to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly to defeat the BJP and work with flexibility by setting aside their differences. These parties will meet in Shimla next month to chalk out a joint strategy.

After the meeting, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said they will meet in the next few days to give final shape to their plan of fighting together. "We had a good meeting and several leaders expressed their views during the meeting. Seventeen parties have decided to work together and contest the Lok Sabha elections unitedly," he told reporters.

The meeting is viewed as a starting point for Opposition unity ahead of Lok Sabha polls to unitedly take on the Narendra Modi-led BJP.

It has to be noted that the combined strength of these parties accounts for less than 200 of the 543 seats, while the BJP has over 300 seats.