NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and party leader Supriya Sule will attend the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru tomorrow, however, they are going to skip it today, party spokesperson Mahesh Tapase has clarified. Tapase tweeted, "NCP National President Shri Sharad Pawar Saheb & working President Smt Supriya Sule will attend the meeting called by opposition parties on Tuesday 18th July in Bengaluru."
The two-day meeting in Bengaluru begins today.
Meanwhile, leaders of at least 26 Opposition parties will converge at the hotel in the evening as part of their efforts to present a united front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the Centre. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar, has been deputed as in-charge to monitor all the preparations for the meeting. Arrangements have been made for all the opposition leaders to stay at a five-star hotel in the city.
Priyank Kharge, Karnataka Minister and son of Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday, said that the joint opposition meeting in Bengaluru is being held to preserve the idea of India and the Constitution. He continued saying, "If BJP has a problem with our unity, it means that they are afraid that they will be unseated. You can also see how BJP's and PM Modi's magic is waning...This goes to show that Mr Modi's popularity is down, BJP is clueless and their policies are hurting India.”
An informal meeting is scheduled at 6 pm on Monday after which there will be dinner at 8 pm. On Tuesday (July 18), the meeting will kick off at 11 am and will continue till 4 pm.
Following this, there will be a press conference in which the campaign strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls may be announced.