Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday stated that the Opposition parties meeting, scheduled to be held on June 23, will give a new direction as people want change, news agency ANI reported. Speaking with media, NCP Chief stated: "We will make sincere efforts to meet the expectations of the people." Earlier on Thursday, Pawar has confirmed that he would participate in a meeting of the top Opposition leaders convened by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, to mobilise the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier, while speaking with ANI, Pawar had said, “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called a meeting on June 23. He called me up and extended an invitation. He has invited the opposition leaders of the country. I will go there. He has extended the invitation keeping in mind the necessity to work together on a national issue.”
The meeting, which aims to create the framework for a coalition of like-minded Opposition parties to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP administration at the Centre, was initially slated for June 12.
However, the meeting was postponed when key Opposition leaders, including Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, stated they were unable to attend on June 12, citing previous commitments and preoccupations.
Earlier today, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar announced Supriya Sule and Praful Patel working presidents of the party. The announcement was made in presence of Ajit Pawar, a key player in NCP. This comes after Pawar, last month, offered to resign from the presidency of the party which was followed by fervent remonstrations from the party members as well as other political leaders. An NCP panel formed to deliberate on Pawar's offer had on May 5 rejected his resignation and urged him to continue as the party president. NCP was founded by Pawar and PA Sangma in 1999.