Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday invited all the 'like-minded' top Opposition leaders for the united platform's meeting which is slated to take place in Bengaluru on July 17-18. On July 17, the meeting will begin at 6 pm. It will be followed by a dinner and on July 18, the meeting will commence at around 11 am, reported news agency ANI. The meeting comes just three days before the commencement of Parliament's monsoon session.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that he is awaiting the Grand Old Party's public statement, denouncing the Centre's Delhi services ordinance. Kejriwal had said that AAP's participation in the united Opposition platform against the BJP will depend on the Congress statement.
KC Venugopal made the announcement for the second meeting on July 3. He tweeted, "After a hugely successful All-Opposition meeting in Patna, we will be holding the next meeting in Bengaluru on 17 and 18 July 2023. We are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces and present a bold vision to take the country forward."
Opposition leaders of 15 parties gathered for a meeting convened by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna last month. Leaders from various regional and national parties expressed their views on the importance of unity and working with flexibility while allegedly putting political differences aside. Nitish Kumar wants to implement the 'one Opposition candidate per seat' strategy that had been used to overthrow the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi governments in 1977 and 1989.