Kejriwal, Nitish, Mamata, Stalin To Arrive In Bengaluru As 2-Day Joint Oppn Meet Set To Begin Today

Joint Opposition Meeting In Bengaluru: The two-day session will begin with a dinner meeting to be hosted by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today

Prominent Opposition leaders will arrive in Bengaluru on Monday for the two-day mega meeting slated to take place as parties seek to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The session comes in the backdrop of the split in the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after Ajit Pawar-led faction joined the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena government and also the West Bengal panchayat polls which saw widespread violence.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), NCP, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and Janta Dal (United) (JDU) will be among the prominent outfits that will take part in the session chaired by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

While, fifteen parties attended the last meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on June 23, in the second huddle, top leaders of as many as 26 opposition parties are likely to attend the two-day brainstorming session in Bengaluru, news agency PTI reported citing sources.

The two-day session will begin with a dinner meeting to be hosted by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today and another formal meeting on Tuesday, after which they are expected to finalise their plans and announce their further course in forging a united bloc.

In their first meeting in Patna, the parties resolved to take on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, differences emerged as the Congress remained non-committal on the Delhi ordinance row. However, ahead of the second meeting, the grand old party announced its support in fighting the Central ordinance over Delhi services and soon after, the Aam Aadmi Party confirmed that it will take part in the second deliberation aimed at ensuring a united Opposition bloc to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). 

The AAP welcomed the Congress' decision to oppose in Parliament the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi. The AAP had earlier said it would join the meeting in Bengaluru only if the Congress extended its support to the AAP in opposing the Delhi ordinance in Parliament.

Bengaluru Oppn Meeting: Arvind Kejriwal, MK Stalin, Sharad Pawar, & More To Attend

Posters featuring several prominent Opposition leaders came up in Bengaluru on Sunday and those featured included Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, former Jammu & Kashmir CM and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Singh, CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(M) Secretary-General Sitaram Yechury, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Besides them, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, JMM leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren are expected to participate in the meeting.

The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi (KDMK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), All India Forward Bloc, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Kerala Congress (Joseph), and Kerala Congress (Mani) are among the new political parties that will be joining the meeting, news agency ANI reported sources as saying.

Common Concerns Brought Opposition Parties To Oppose BJP In 2024 LS Elections: P Chidambaram

In an interview with news agency PTI, former Union minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram stressed that the Opposition parties have several objectives in common as they are opposed to the social and economic policies of the Modi government. The parties are concerned about slow economic growth, high inflation and rising unemployment, as well as about the curtailment of civil liberties, the gagging of the media, the emasculation of institutions, and the misuse of investigating agencies, he said.

They are concerned about the security situation at the borders. These common concerns have brought them together to oppose the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chidambaram added, as per PTI.

BJP Chief Nadda Calls It 'Protection of Dynasties Alliance'

Addressing a rally in Rajasthan, BJP chief JP Nadda attacked the Opposition parties saying that these days the parties have started an alliance that he dubbed "Protection of Dynasties Alliance". “Now-a-days a new scam is being done by the opposition, that is PDA i.e. Patriotic Democratic Alliance whereas I call PDA as Protection Of Dynasties Alliance i.e. it is a way to save familyism,” Nadda said, as quoted by ANI.

"It is a way to protect dynastic politics. All these people join the alliance to save their families while Modi works to take the country forward. We should understand this difference,” he added. 

Citing PM Narendra Modi's comments, BJP National Spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore said the Congress and other opposition parties are fighting for their existence, to secure their own future, and not for the country. "As PM Modi said, opposition parties are fighting for their own existence and securing the future of their children, not for the country," he remarked.

Following the four-hour Opposition meeting on June 23, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar had stated that "very positive talks were held". "We have decided to contest (Lok Sabha elections) together. Another meeting of all (opposition) parties will be held to determine the next steps. Almost everything will be finalised at that meeting. Mallikarjun Kharge will preside over the meeting early next month," he mentioned.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called it a "battle of ideologies" and said, "Indeed, there will be differences amongst us but we have decided to work together and protect the ideologies shared by us".