Rarely has a large-sized conference room anywhere in India ever hosted a political gathering quite like this. I do not know what the collective noun for biodatas is, but the no-frills conference room at 1 Anne Marg, Patna was an array of curriculum vitae. The heads of the political parties (considering one representative per party for this calculation) at the Patna summit had a combined experience of 21 terms of Chief Ministership, 41 terms as Members of parliament, and, a monstrous 400 years in public service.

At the beginning of 2023, who would have thought that Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, Arvind Kejriwal, Lalu Yadav, Bhagwant Mann, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, and their key aides would have been engaging around a rectangular table from 11.30 am to 3.30 pm on a sultry Friday afternoon, a couple of kilometres away from Gandhi Maidan in the capital of Bihar? Who would have thought?

And who would have thought that three weeks after the first summit, the same leaders, and a few more, would be meeting again in the Garden City of Bangalore? They are.

In the 25 days between the Patna summit and the Bengaluru summit, there have been five significant political developments.

i. Another “washing machine operation” was switched on. Front-loaded in Maharashtra.

ii. The Trinamool swept the rural polls in Bengal, leaving the BJP a distant second.

iii. Manipur gets bleaker every day and the Prime Minister has still not said a word. The European Parliament held an ‘urgent debate’ on the issue. (Will parliament discuss the subject in the forthcoming monsoon session that starts on 20 July?)

iv. The Supreme Court invalidated the Union government’s decision to further extend the tenure of the director of the Enforcement Directorate.

v. The Governor of Tamil Nadu recklessly dismissed a Minister without even consulting the Chief Minister, before quickly realising his move did not have any legal or constitutional backing.

Four of these five developments clearly put the BJP on the defensive.

One aspect of the Patna summit which did not make the headlines was the graciousness and humility shown by each and every leader present there. The keynote address was delivered by Nitish Kumar, who convened the meeting. Lalu Yadav spoke next. The Congress was then given the floor by dint of being the largest opposition party. Rahul Gandhi was gracious enough to suggest that since they were indeed the largest party, it was only right that they listen to everyone present, and then put across their view at the end. Mamata Banerjee advised that different points of view could also be settled bilaterally in conversations over chai and biscuits. All this, in the opening 30 minutes, set the tone for the purposive meeting.

The BJP, expectedly, will be quick to belittle the summits, saying, some of the parties present have low representation in parliament. Here is a checklist of some parties who are currently allied with the BJP (NDA), and their numbers in parliament.

– Parties with two MPs: Apna Dal (Soneylal), Mizo National Front, and National People’s Party.

– Parties with one MP: Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, All Jharkhand Students Union, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, Naga People’s Front, Republican Party of India (Athawale), Asom Gana Parishad, Pattali Makkal Katchi, Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar), and United People’s Party (Liberal).

– Parties with zero MPs: Bodoland People’s Front, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Jannayak Janta party, United Democratic Party, Prahar Janshakti Party, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, Hill State People’s Democratic Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), and many more.

The hosts for the Bengaluru summit, the Congress, tell us that more than 20 political parties will be present. These are different political parties – not photocopies of each other. Obviously, there are varied dynamics; some parties are more comfortable with each other than others. That’s quite natural. There is no gridlock on any issue.

The mission is clear – work unselfishly, unitedly, and present the India we cherish with a vision for 2024 and beyond.

[This article appeared on NDTV.com | Friday, July 14, 2023]