To formulate for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections the opposition parties are all set to meet for the second time this month in Karnataka’s capital city Bengaluru on July 17 and 18. Around 26 opposition party leaders are been invited in the meeting.
Several top leaders are been invited to the meeting which includes former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal are expected to attend the meeting.
The meeting is scheduled at a hotel in Race Course Road, Bengaluru for which Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president and Deputy Chief Minister DK. Shivakumar has been given the responsibility to oversee the preparations. Arrangements have been made for all the opposition leaders to stay at a five-star hotel in the city. The Opposition parties are expected to plan a strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections due by May 2024.
The first Opposition leaders meeting was been held on 23rd June 2023 in Patna which was hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Around 15 opposition party leaders attended that time. In addition to this, the Congress has invited 10 new parties to the second opposition meeting in Bengaluru to increase its tally over the NDA. For the Opposition, the key points to be focused on the agenda are the contours of seat-sharing and reaching greater coordination and communication.
ˈUnited We Standˈ is the Opposition's slogan as leaders began their 2-day brainstorming session. The name of the coalition of Anti-BJP parties may not be called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and is likely to be changed during the meeting.
The meeting on July 18th will begin at 11 am and will continue till 4 pm. After which, a press conference will be held in which the name of their alliance and the campaign strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are to be announced. Ahead of the meeting, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hosted a dinner for the leaders of the Opposition parties. More than 50 leaders are said to have attended the meeting on Monday.
Due to the ongoing Karnataka Assembly session and the scheduled meeting for the opposition parties the Bengaluru Traffic Police have advised the general public to avoid some of the roads for a smooth flow of traffic on July 17th and 18th. The Joint Commissioner of Traffic, MN Anucheth asked the commuters to avoid the following roads- Dr BR Ambedkar Road, Cubbon Road, Raj Bhavan Road, Race Course Road, Seshadri Road and the Ballari Road during this 2-day meeting.
Sources said that more meetings are likely to be held in future before arriving at a consensus on seat-sharing, probable common programme and strategy to highlight the failure of BJP Government at the Centre.
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