Leaders of 26 parties from across India will huddle at a second conclave of the Opposition in Bengaluru on Tuesday (July 18) to forge an electoral alliance for a battle against the NDA led by the ruling BJP in the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2024.
Also read: Opposition meet in Bengaluru LIVE news: July 17, 2023
Leaders of 15 parties attended the last meeting of the Opposition parties held at Patna in Bihar on June 23.
Ahead of the meeting, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hosted a dinner for leaders of Opposition parties. More than 50 leaders from different parties attended the meeting on Monday.
Prominent leaders attended the dinner meeting included AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, former AICC presidents Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashvi Yadav, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, former chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, and CPI general secretary D Raja.
Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar had not attended the dinner meeting. However, the veteran leader is expected to show his presence on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said the unity of non-NDA parties would be a “game-changer” of Indian political scenario and it would discuss a common agenda to defeat the BJP in the next general elections.
