New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday took a jibe at the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting of 38 parties in New Delhi, saying that he has not even heard the names of many parties.
"I don't know whether they are registered parties. Earlier, they didn't care about their allies," he said while addressing the media.
"NDA is holding a meeting with 30 parties. I have not heard about so many parties in India. Earlier they didn't hold any meetings but now they are meeting one by one (with NDA parties) PM Modi is now afraid of opposition parties. We have gathered here to save democracy and the Constitution," he added.
On Tuesday, the opposition parties held a meeting in Bengaluru, while the ruling National Democratic Alliance met in the national capital, to discuss strategy ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The first meeting of the united Opposition was held on June 23. The major difference between the first and second meetings is the presence of Sonia Gandhi. Her presence is being seen as a move to get the Congress, the largest Opposition party in Lok Sabha, back in the lead on the united Opposition platform. The Congress has, however, said that it is not interested in power or the post of the Prime Minister.
The united Opposition will field one candidate per seat against the BJP. The parties in the previous meeting had decided that the individual seats and the candidates would be discussed at the state level.
Several parties, including the MDMK, KDMK, VCK, RSP, Forward Bloc, IUML, Kerala Congress (Joseph), and Kerala Congress (Mani), are among those who joined the second opposition meeting.
The 24 Opposition parties collectively hold around 150 Lok Sabha seats.