Bhubaneswar, Jul 20 (PTI) Nine anti-BJD and anti-BJP parties in Odisha on Thursday held a meeting convened by the Congress and decided to organise a joint rally in Bhubaneswar in the first week of August against both central and state governments.
The meeting was attended by senior state leaders of CPI, CPI(M), RJD, Samajwadi Party, AAP, TMC, RPI and Samata Kranti Dal.
The parties that are against both the BJD and the BJP decided to chalk out a future course of action for the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the state.
The meeting was held only two days after 26 political parties met in Bengaluru, and formed Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in next year's general elections.
Coming down heavily on both the BJP and the BJD, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattnayak said that both the central and the state governments have pushed Odisha to backwardness, which is why the nine like-minded parties have joined hands to fight them.
"We call upon the people of Odisha to unite and fight against both the BJD and the BJP," CPI(M) leader Janardan Pati said.
He said more parties will join the collective in the first week of August.
Samajwadi Party Odisha unit leader Rabi Behera alleged that the farmers were not getting MSP and asserted that the collective will fight for the rights of the cultivators.
However, neither the BJD nor the BJP have reacted over the meeting.