 "Opposition meet")
The Opposition is set to hold its second meeting in Bengaluru on July 18 and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also announced its own meeting tomorrow, coinciding with the Opposition's.
The NDA meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President J P Nadda at the Ashok Hotel in Delhi.
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Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition will discuss the contours of seat-sharing and reaching greater coordination and communication. The BJP is also hoping to retain its old allies and get new ones, to fill the gap, according to a report in The Indian Express.
As the Congress said that it will oppose the Ordinance taking over services from the Delhi government, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will be attending the two-day meeting in Bengaluru.
The number of parties now attending the Opposition meeting is 24, with the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) expected to come and add to the numbers.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule said that Sharad Pawar would be attending the meeting on Tuesday.
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On Sharad Pawar, Kharge said, “I called him up to say that it is important for him to come... He said he is coming on July 18 morning, there is no concern about that.”
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, have also left Kolkata for Bengaluru.
The Congress president said, “There is no problem, everyone is coming. Mamata ji is coming, read in the papers. Kejriwalji is coming, Nitishji, Tejashwiji, Stalinji... In fact, more people are aligning with us than those present at the Patna meeting.”
Mocking the NDA meeting, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “Attempts are being made to breathe new life into the NDA. There used to be no talk about the NDA and suddenly since the past few days, we have been hearing and reading about it.”
Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said the Opposition meet would be “a game changer for the Indian political scenario”.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad criticised Arvind Kejriwal for “going to attend the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru instead of being in the national capital to provide relief to the people affected by flood”.
As many as 19 parties have confirmed that they will be attending the NDA meeting scheduled for Tuesday, with BJP national president J P Nadda sending letters to allies — including Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha — inviting them for the conclave, according to the Indian Express report.
Om Prakash Rajbhar, president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), has also joined the NDA and will fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a part of the alliance. His party will also be present at the event.
However, N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will not be part of the NDA alliance.
The BJP will not ally with these parties as it plans to go solo in Punjab and will ally with Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party in Andhra Pradesh.
