Opposition Unity On Thin Ice, AAP And BJP To Launch MP Poll Campaigns — The Week Ahead

The AAP and the BJP are slated to kick off their MP Poll campaigns this week. Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar has his task cut out for the week ahead — broker peace between AAP, Congress, and CPI-M.

The Week Ahead will be crucial for the Opposition as Nitish Kumar tries to broker peace between the Congress and the AAP and the CPI-M. For Nitish Kumar's strategy against the BJP to work in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, unity among all the major Opposition parties is going to be crucial. This will be especially important as both BJP's and AAP kick off their poll campaigns for the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

A month ago, the AAP had accused the Congress government in Chhattisgarh of turning the state into a hub of corruption. AAP Rajya Sabha MP had even called for CM Bhupesh Baghel's arrest. It will now be interesting to see whether Arvind Kejriwal continues the attack this week after the Opposition's June 23 mega meeting.

Stay with ABP Live as we try to cut the clutter around the latest news from the political arena and help you understand what is likely to happen in The Week Ahead. Here are the biggest political developments expected to play out this week.

Madhya Pradesh Election 2023: PM Modi, JP Nadda To Launch BJP's Campaign This Week

Back from his successful back-to-back trips to the US and Egypt, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off the campaign for the Madhya Pradesh election with a roadshow in Bhopal on June 27. While in Bhopal, PM Modi will virtually address BJP leaders and workers across 10 lakh booths nationwide and attend the closing ceremony of the Veerangana Durgawati Yatra in Shahdol. The Prime Minister will also distribute cards to beneficiaries of the Ayushman scheme. During his virtual address from Bhopal, Modi will engage with 3,000 booth workers. BJP national president JP Nadda will also visit Bhopal on June 26, to strategise for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election that is scheduled to take place later this year. 

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the party's poll campaign. Last time, the Congress suffered a major setback when Jyotiraditya Scindia defected to the BJP with 22 loyal MLAs, toppling the Kamal Nath government. This year, the Congress is not taking any chances. The party's troubleshooter Kamal Nath was reported to have said that the list of candidates for this year's election is likely to be prepared based on a ground report of a survey conducted independently. 

With PM Modi sounding the BJP's poll bugle in Madhya Pradesh, the coming weeks are sure to get hot in the BJ-ruled state, where the Congress is trying to wrest power from CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

AAP To Launch Poll Campaigns In Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal will also launch the party's campaigns in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. According to media reports, Kejriwal will kick off the Madhya Pradesh campaign in Gwalior with a rally on July 1. The next day he will launch the Chhattisgarh campaign in Bilaspur with a public meeting. Sources said the AAP will employ tactics similar to its outreach programmes ahead of the Gujarat polls last year.

The AAP will go up against the Congress in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan this year. This is likely to widen its rift further with the Congress and affect the united Opposition platform orchestrated by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Before the Opposition's June 23 meeting, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had warned all parties that they will have to put aside regional differences to win against the BJP at the national level. She, however, did mention that one or two parties may have their own state compulsions, but "that’s a different issue".

With Congress Battling Regional Battles Against AAP And CPI-M, Opposition's 'National Unity' At Risk

The Opposition began parleys much earlier this election season than the last time. However, the platform for unity for "like-minded" Opposition parties, seems to be in trouble right after the first mega meeting attended by at least 15 parties. Immediately, after the June 23 meeting, Congress went into confrontation mode with two of the members of the "united platform" — the Aam Aadmi Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

First, the Congress purportedly refused to support the AAP against the Centre's ordinance on administrative services postings in Delhi. The AAP attacked the Congress, saying the Congress's "silence" on the issue will surely help the BJP in the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. The Congress, in turn, lashed out at the AAP, saying the only aim of Arvind Kejriwal's party is to "break the Opposition's unity".

Second, the same day, the Congress and the CPI-M locked horns over the Kerala Police arresting president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) K Sudhakaran. The Kannur MLA was briefly arrested in a cheating case. He was released on bail later. The Congress accused the Pinarayi Vijayan administration of "copying the autocratic tactic of the Modi government".

The Congress, which has accused the CPI-M of being undemocratic, however, is in an alliance with the Left-wing party in Bengal. But it is in a direct fight with Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress in the eastern state. 

It will now be interesting to see Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's next move to bring the Opposition on the same page after these massive rifts between the parties on the "united platform". The Congress is already Kumar will have to move quick as the next meeting of the parties is scheduled on July 12. The week ahead will be crucial as Kumar tries to negotiate a truce between the Congress and the AAP and the CPI(M).

Stay tuned to ABP Live as we track the updates on these stories and more.