Next Opposition Meet In Bengaluru On July 13-14: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday announced that the next Opposition meeting will be held in Bengaluru on July 13 and 14.

The first meeting was held in Patna in Bihar recently to chalk out a common strategy to unitedly take on the ruling BJP in next year's general election. The leaders had said that the next meeting would be held in Shimla, but Pawar has now announced that it will be held in Bengaluru.

The meeting was convened by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) Chief Nitish Kumar and over 32 leaders of more than a dozen political parties attended the meeting.

After the meeting, Kumar expressed satisfaction with the fruitful discussions and confirmed that the parties had unanimously agreed to contest the elections as a united front. Stressing that they were acting in the national interest, Kumar accused the BJP of working against it by attempting to alter the country's history.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge emphasized the importance of establishing a common agenda and making decisions on the way forward during the gathering.

Rahul Gandhi acknowledged that while differences may exist, the opposition parties had made the commitment to collaborate with flexibility and protect their shared ideology.

Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, highlighted the symbolic significance of initiating the meeting in Patna, stating that movements originating there tend to gain momentum. Banerjee reiterated the unity of purpose among the parties and pledged a united fight against the BJP.

She also said their love for the country and their dedication to safeguarding its history, asserting that they were not just opposition parties but also patriotic citizens of India.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (TMC), her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab's Bhagwant Mann (AAP), Tamil Nadu's M K Stalin (DMK), Jharkhand's Hemant Soren (JMM), Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, Maharashtra's former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT), and NCP president Sharad Pawar are among the leaders attending the first high-level Opposition meeting.

While Mayawati (BSP), Naveen Patnaik (BJD), K Chandrashekar Rao (BRS) and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (YSRCP) were not invited, RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary did not attend the meeting due to a "predetermined family programme".