The economic stimulus of Rs 20 lakh crore announced by PM Narendra Modi is a ‘cruel joke on the country', said Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the joint Opposition meeting held on May 22. This was the first online meeting of the opposition parties to discuss the coronavirus crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have brought together the opposition which decided to devise a ‘common action plan’ to take on the Modi government. As many as 22 opposition parties held a meeting as part of an initiative led by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and released an 11-point charter of demands. The government has abandoned any pretence of being democratic, has no compassion for the poor and has embarked on a ‘wild adventure of so-called reforms including a grand clearance sale of public sector units,’ said Gandhi. She went on to say, ‘All power is now concentrated in one office, the PMO’. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and former PM HD Deve Gowda were among those who joined the zoom conference. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Sharad Pawar of the NCP attended too. Prominent absentees included Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal.
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