With a sole aim to unsettle Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls, top leaders of the country’s major opposition parties have started reaching Patna to participate in the brain storming mega meet here on Friday morning.

Former J&K Chief Minister and PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti was the first to reach Patna in the morning itself. Then Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal along with his counterpart in Punjab Bhagwant Manna, Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chaddha, both MPs, reached the city at noon. They straight drove to Patna Sahib’s famous Gurudwara to take blessings. They spent more than an hour at the Gurudwara.

It is learnt that Kejriwal is adamant to discuss the ordinance issue first in the meeting on Friday before discussing the scheduled agenda. He has already submitted a letter to this effect to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. According to sources, he has come prepared with all relevant documents related to the ordinance.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee reached Patna late in the evening. She straight drove to meet former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav at his residence and take blessings from him.

“I respect him a lot. He is like a member of my extended family. I came here to meet him and take blessings from a guardian,” she told reporters. After meeting Yadav and his family members, she straight drove to Patna Circuit House where Chief Minister Kumar went to meet her.

It was West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee’s idea to hold an opposition meeting in Patna. Banerjee during her meeting with her counterpart in Bihar in April had suggested meeting in Patna since it was the epicentre of the JP movement way back in 1974.

Later CPI chief D Raja and General Secretary of CPI-ML Dipankar Bhattacharya reached Patna. Later, they along with party members met the CM at his residence.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is expected any time here. Congress chief Mallikaarjun Kharge, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary KC Venugopal, CPM chief Sitaram Yechury, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Samajwadi party chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav are expected tomorrow morning.

According to official sources, NCP chief Sharad Pawar along with Supriya Sule, Prafulla Patel, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and JK NC leader Farooq Abdullah are expected tomorrow.

Patna is decked up to welcome distinguished guests from all over the country. Old timers say that this is the first that almost all top leaders of major parties are meeting in Patna to chalk out a joint strategy for the ouster of the BJP led NDA government at the Centre.

There are many more such meetings in the pipeline, said a JDU insider. It’s a morale booster for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for successfully organizing such a meeting in Patna, a JDU worker said.

The man of the moment Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has made an elaborate arrangement to serve Bihar delicacies to the visiting guests. Apart from Bihar’s traditional Litti Chokha, Silao, famous sweet of Rajgir and Champaran mutton will also be served to the guests.