New Delhi: As the Oppositions bid to rustle up a united anti-BJP front for the Lok Sabha elections continues, there is speculation about the pre-poll coalition be named as Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA). Days after prominent Opposition leaders met in Delhi and agreed for a pre-poll alliance to take on Narendra Modi-Amit Shah-led BJP, there are proposals to name it as PPA instead of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Congress.
Those proposing it contend that the UPA has “Congress ring” to the name and was led by the Congress. The PPA signifies that all the constituents of the coalition were on an equal footing and that no party was the leader. The opposition parties meeting at NCP President Sharad Pawar’s residence in New Delhi saw the participation of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee and her Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu among others.
They said the entire Opposition needed to come together due to “democratic compulsions to save India”. Gandhi has taken the responsibility to circulate copies of a draft common minimum programme among the Opposition leaders.