Opposition meeting is for country's 140 crore people: JAP chief Pappu Yadav

Patna (Bihar) [India], June 23 : Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) chief Pappu Yadav on Friday said the Opposition meeting is for the safety of 140 crore people of the country.

A meeting of Opposition leaders hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar began in Patna today with the aim of forging a united Opposition front to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. More than 15 opposition parties attended the meeting held at Nitish Kumar's official residence in Patna.

"This is not a meeting of the country's opposition. This meeting is for the life and safety of 140 crore people of the country," JAP chief told ANI.

"The meeting is against always looking at Bihar with disrespect and is a good start...Congress is the only party which can defeat BJP, no one can defeat BJP except Congress in the country," he added.

Meanwhile, speaking at the Opposition meeting Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Alok Kumar Mehta said that this meeting is part of India's democratic system.

"Democracy gets strengthened when the opposition unites... Whenever the opposition has fought, it has fought under collective leadership. Our leader will be chosen when elections are held," the RJD leader said.

The meeting has been called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar and is being attended by leaders of parties opposed to the BJP.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, MP Sanjay Raut, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah attended the meeting.