Opposition parties' second meeting in Bengaluru to chalk out 'anti-Modi' front
Bengaluru/IBNS: With less than a year to go for the next General Elections, 24 opposition parties will on Monday meet, the second in recent times, here to chalk out strategies and create a bloc to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from returning to power for the third consecutive term in 2024.
The meeting, which has been called by Congress in its ruled state Karnataka, will be attended by top politicians Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, MK Stalin among others.
After Congress spoke against the controversial central order over sharing of power of Delhi's bureaucracy, Kejriwal and his AAP have agreed to attend the meeting.
Among the leaders who would skip the meeting are Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and his predecessor N Chandrababu Naidu, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the split of veteran politician Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after his nephew Ajit Pawar revolted against the former and joined the ruling coalition in Maharashtra.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will join the meeting along with her party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday.
Mamata is joining the opposition meeting amid Congress and Left's criticism of TMC in the backdrop of the West Bengal panchayat elections which have witnessed widespread violence.
Throwing a question to the Congress top brass, Bharatiya Janata Party IT Cell head Amit Malviya tweeted, "WB panchayat elections saw more than 50 people dead, which includes Congress workers.
"Will Rahul Gandhi confront Mamata Banerjee and deplore violence or capitulate? His silence, so far, on the state sponsored bloodshed, reeks of cowardice and worse kind of political opportunism."
WB panchayat elections saw more than 50 people dead, which includes Congress workers. Will Rahul Gandhi confront Mamata Banerjee and deplore violence or capitulate? His silence, so far, on the state sponsored bloodshed, reeks of cowardice and worse kind of political opportunism.
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 17, 2023
The first opposition meeting was hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Bengaluru on June 23.