The mega Opposition rally organised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was an important show of strength for anti-BJP parties in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. It demonstrated a certain unity of purpose on the part of Opposition parties.
Laying down the Opposition's mission, Banerjee said, "SP and BSP should bring BJP to zero in Uttar Pradesh, we'll do it in West Bengal, Congress and NCP should do it in Maharashtra, AAP in Delhi".
The idea, therefore, seems to be to engage the BJP in state-centered battles across the country.
The rally was successful in the sense that it managed to bring together non-NDA parties that have a strong influence in 26 out of 29 states in the country. The only exceptions are Sikkim, Nagaland and Tripura, where none of the parties present have any influence. These three states account for four Lok Sabha seats in all. Therefore the parties present can claim to have influence in 539 Lok Sabha seats.
However, in terms of uniting non-BJP parties, there were two more exceptions: Telangana and Odisha. The main non-BJP parties from these states – Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Biju Janata Dal respectively – were not part of the rally. Even though the Congress is present in both these states, it is lagging behind the two regional parties in terms of influence.
Another notable exception is the Left which is presently in power in Kerala and is the main anti-BJP force in Tripura.
Here's a complete list of states whose anti-BJP parties were present at the rally.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)