Not Shimla. Next Opposition meet in Bengaluru on July 13-14, says Sharad Pawar
NEW DELHI,JUNE 29: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday announced that the next opposition meeting will be held in Bengaluru on July 13 and 14. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become restless after the Patna meet.
Pawar was referring to the June 23 huddle which leaders from over 15 opposition parties had attended in the Bihar capital.
At the Patna meet, 17 parties including the Congress resolved to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in a united manner to defeat the BJP at the Centre and work with flexibility by setting aside their differences.
They decided on Shimla as the venue for the second meet to chalk out a joint strategy. However, they have decided to meet in Bengaluru instead on July 13 and 14.
“After Patna, the next meeting of Opposition parties will take place in Bengaluru on July 13 and 14,” Pawar said. A plan of action is expected to be formulated at the second meeting to be chaired by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
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Over 32 leaders from various parties attended the first meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his residence in Patna. 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”.
There was lack of clarity on the exact number of parties that pledged to take on the BJP unitedly with leaders such as Nitish Kumar and TMC chief Mamata Benerjee putting the number at 17 and some others like Yechury stating that 15 parties were there.
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The BJP reacted strongly to the Opposition meeting, calling it a “multi-headed selfish alliance” and compared it with wolves hunting in packs.
In the current Lok Sabha, the combined strength of these parties accounts for less than 200 of the 543 seats, though their leaders are hopeful of together turning the tables on the BJP which enjoys a brute majority with a 300-plus tally.
The Congress, which is seen as the principal rival of BJP, had won 52 seats in 2019, a slight improvement over its 2014 performance when it won only 44 – an all-time low.
-PTI
