Opposition meet in Bengaluru July 17 Updates | Day two of meeting to begin at 11 a. m.

Opposition leaders’ dinner meeting underway in Karnataka’s Bengaluru.

Prominent leaders attended the dinner meeting including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, former AICC presidents Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashvi Yadav, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, former chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, and CPI general secretary D Raja.

Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar had not attended the dinner meeting. However, the veteran leader is expected to show his presence on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, AICC general secretary (organisation) K. C. Venugopal said the unity of non-NDA parties would be a “game-changer” of Indian political scenario and it would discuss a common agenda to defeat the BJP in the next general elections.

Leaders of 26 parties from across India will huddle at a second conclave of the Opposition in Bengaluru on July 18 to forge an electoral alliance for a battle against the NDA led by the ruling BJP in the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2024.

Leaders of 15 parties attended the last meeting of the Opposition parties held at Patna in Bihar on June 23. Ahead of the meeting, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hosted a dinner for leaders of Opposition parties. More than 50 leaders from different parties attended the meeting on Monday.

Opposition dinner meeting begins in Bengaluru- MK Stalin, Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar, Hemant Soren, Bhagwant Mann and Lalu Prasad Yadav among those present.

JD(U) leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar arrives for Opposition dinner meeting in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

ANI

BJP chief J. P. Nadda said that Opposition unity is hollow, based on selfishness, it has neither leader nor good intention and is just good for photo opportunity.

PTI

BJP leaders in Karnataka slammed the Opposition parties for coming together to form a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) only to dethrone Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and mocked the “small cluster of regional parties” saying it will not make any difference.

BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal termed the opposition meet as a gathering of looters.

According to former minister R Ashoka, the United Progressive Alliance leaders have come to Bengaluru only for a “photo opportunity”. “Apart from a photo show, nothing will happen. They will come together, hold each others’ hands and after a photo shoot, they will leave. They don’t have any ideology. They are the ones who are fighting against each other in their states. Be it in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu or Kerala,” Ashoka said.

PTI

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and AAP MP Sanjay Singh arrive in Bengaluru for the joint Opposition meeting.

Opposition meet: Mission 2024 roadmap on agenda; meeting to begin with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s address.

ANI

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will win the Lok Sabha election net year, and the BJP’s downfall has started from Karnataka, where the party lost the Assembly elections in May.

Mr. Siddaramaiah claimed the BJP will lose the Parliamentary elections as the party will not get a clear mandate.

“After Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, price rise started, and the economy (was) destroyed. It has become difficult for the farmers, Dalits and economically weaker sections to survive. People have also lost their peace due to communalism. People are living in fear. This is the BJP’s gift,” he told reporters here.

Reacting to the BJP leaders’ charge that opposition leaders are uniting fearing Modi, Siddaramaiah said: “Didn’t we face Modi? Aren’t we strong in Karnataka? Congress won at all the places wherever Modi went for campaigning (during Assembly election). The BJP’s downfall has started from Karnataka.” On the possibility of Janata Dal (Secular) aligning with the NDA, the Chief Minister said the former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led party has no ideology as it had once formed an alliance with the BJP to form government in the State.

- PTI

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Maharashtra’s former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has left for Bengaluru to attend the meeting of the Opposition parties on Tuesday.

Taking a swipe at the opposition parties’ meeting in Bengaluru, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said that on one hand there is the “tried and tested” leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and on the other hand there is Congress’ “dagger of deceit”.

Asked about the Opposition meeting, Mr. Naqvi told reporters that it was a case of unity among parties that are suffering from depression after electoral defeats and there is “guarantee of separation”.

“The Congress’ cunning character is to give power to one family and create a tower of trouble for others,” Mr. Naqvi alleged.

He said that those regional political parties who are trying to “hold the hand of the Congress” today should remember that the Congress has always termed them a “threat to national interests”.

However, the BJP considers the regional parties “a strength for fulfilling regional aspirations while serving the national interests”, he said.

- PTI

With several opposition parties holding a meeting aimed at forging unity for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Monday ruled out any alliance with the TMC in West Bengal and said that secular parties along with the Left and the Congress will take on the BJP as well as the TMC in the State.

Speaking to reporters at the venue of the two-day meeting to be attended by him, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and other leaders, Mr. Yechury referred to the 2004 model which brought the Left-Congress coalition to power at the Centre.

“The situation is different in every state. The effort is to ensure that in these situations the division of votes which gives BJP the advantage should be minimal. This is not a new thing. Like in 2004, the Left had 61 seats, out of which we won 57 defeating the Congress candidates...then Manmohan Singh government was formed and it ran for 10 years.

“Mamata and CPI(M) will not happen. There will be secular parties along with the Left and the Congress in West Bengal which will fight against the BJP and TMC,” the CPI(M) general secretary said, adding that at the Centre what form this will take will be decided later.

- PTI

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren left for Bengaluru on Monday to attend the second meeting of opposition parties.

Senior leaders from 26 opposition parties including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have been invited for the two-day meeting to start work on a common minimum programme and announce a joint agitational plan to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Soren is scheduled to return to Ranchi on July 18.

-PTI

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav who arrived in Bengaluru on Monday to attend the two-day joint Opposition meeting, hoped that the people of the country would give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a massive defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“...2/3rd of the population is going to defeat BJP. I hope that the people of the country will give BJP a massive defeat...I am receiving inputs from all corners of the country that the BJP will be wiped out...,” SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said ahead of the Opposition meeting.

- ANI

The BJP on Monday called the opposition parties’ meet in Bengaluru a “meeting of opportunists and power-hungry” leaders and said such an alliance will not do any good for the country at present or in the future.

Addressing a press conference, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad ridiculed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and said he has gone to attend the opposition parties’ meeting in Bengaluru instead of being in the national capital to provide relief to the people affected by flood.

He also hit out at the Congress alleging that it has not said a word on the Kejriwal government’s “mismanagement” during the flood situation in Delhi or on the violence during panchayat polls in West Bengal, where the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is in power.

- PTI

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav left for Bengaluru on Monday to attend the second meeting of the Opposition parties.

Mr. Kumar is accompanied by his party JD(U)‘s national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh and state Water Resources Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha.

Fifteen parties attended the last meeting for opposition unity hosted by Kumar in Patna on June 23.

- PTI

The main opposition Congress believes that the Bengaluru meeting would be a ‘game-changer’ in Indian politics, and it would discuss a common agenda to defeat the BJP in the next general elections.

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Aam Admi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chaddha on Monday said that the coming together of like-minded opposition parties is giving “sleepless nights” to the Bharatiya Janata Party. He also claimed that the saffron party will not return to power at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking to ANI in Delhi, the AAP leader said, “The alliance of like minded opposition parties is giving sleepless nights to the ruling BJP. The coming together of leaders of non-BJP parties have made them to live in fear”,adding, “The agenda of the meeting will be discussed during the meeting in Bengaluru”.

- ANI

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and party MP T.R. Baalu reached Bengaluru to attend the two-day joint Opposition meeting.

CM Stalin and MP Baalu were recieved by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar at the Bengaluru airport. Shivakumar has been deputed to monitor all the preparation for the meeting.

- ANI

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said the PM had claimed that he alone is enough to take on the Opposition then why was he feeling the need to get 30 parties together.

Kharge claimed that seeing the Opposition getting together, the BJP was “rattled” and was now bringing together parties that have already splintered, in order to show numbers.

Speaking with reporters here, Kharge said the Opposition parties have been meeting and coordinating for a long time, even in Parliament, but he had not heard of the 30 parties of the NDA meeting before.

Taking a swipe at the PM, Kharge said, “The PM had said ‘Main akela kaafi hoon saare Opposition ke liye’, while speaking in Rajya Sabha, then why is he bringing together 30 parties. Who are these 30 parties, what are their names, are they all registered with the Election Commission.” Kharge’s comments were a reference to the prime minister’s remarks in February in Rajya Sabha wherein he had asserted that he alone outweighs all those who take turns to shout slogans to oppose him.

- PTI

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee left for Bengaluru on Monday to attend the second meeting of the non-BJP parties there.

She was accompanied by her nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Sources in the TMC said though Banerjee will be present at the meeting, she would skip the dinner hosted on Monday evening owing to her post-surgery routine prescribed by doctors.

- PTI

Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy will be attending a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Tuesday.

National president of the Bharatiya Janata Party J. P Nadda has invited Mr Rangasamy’s All India N. R Congress (AINRC), a constituent of NDA, for the meeting, said a source in AINRC

“The Chief Minister has received the invitation from Mr. Nadda and he will be attending the meeting on Tuesday,” said an official in the Chief Minister’s Office.

Stating that democracy “often demands the sharing of power”, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen welcomed the ongoing discussions between non-BJP parties to form a federal front for next year’s general elections.

“I think the fact of the matter is often democracy demands the sharing of power. (But) often, the majority vote did not allow the minority parties to have that force and rather left the minority (in) too precarious (a situation),” Dr. Sen said.

The economist-philosopher said, “Given the current situation, the only way of having some kind of balancing of power” would be for the opposition parties “to stand with each other, rather than remain vulnerable.” He added, “In some ways that seemed to be what happened in the meeting in Patna [opposition conclave held last month].”

- PTI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said he has spoken with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and was informed that he would participate in the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru on July 18.

Responding to reports that Pawar would skip the Opposition meeting on Monday and take part in it on Tuesday, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh rejected such insinuations, saying the official meeting of opposition parties is on Tuesday and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is only hosting a dinner on Monday.

Asked about Mr. Pawar, Mr. Kharge, while interacting with reporters, said he has spoken with Mr. Pawar earlier in the day. “He said the (Maharashtra) Assembly is starting there today and he would like to be there (Mumbai). But he will be present for the meeting tomorrow. 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,” Mr. Kharge said.

“There is no problem, everyone is coming. Mamata ji is coming, read in the papers Kejriwal ji is coming, Nitish ji, Tejashwi ji, Stalin ji... In fact, more people are aligning with us than those present at the Patna meeting,” the Congress president said.

- PTI

Ahead of the second Opposition meeting CPI(Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury said that the meeting will definitely create an impact.

“Naturally Opposition Meeting would create an impact, that’s why we are here. In fact people are asking questions whether It would create an impact, it is creating an impact already and it will,” Mr. Yechury said.

The CPI (M) General Secretary said that cooperation among the opposition is needed “in order to ensure that the country we are born in remains the country we were born in.”

Asked about whether they had a consensus on the prime ministerial face, Mr. Yechury said, “The media should wait the cross the bridge when you reach it”- ANI

The Congress on Monday asserted that Opposition unity would be “a game changer” for the Indian political scenario and took a swipe at the BJP, saying those who used to talk of defeating the opposition parties alone are now making attempts to breathe new life into the NDA which had become a “ghost”.

Addressing a press conference here on the two-day crucial deliberations of Opposition parties starting this evening, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suddenly remembered the NDA.

“Attempts are being made to breathe new life into the NDA. There used to be no talk about NDA and suddenly in the past few days, we are hearing and reading about it. Suddenly, it was reported that an NDA meeting had been called for tomorrow. So NDA, which had become a ghost, attempts are now being made to breathe a new life into it,” Mr. Ramesh said. -PTI

Ahead of the meeting of Opposition parties on Monday, the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Thackeray faction-leader Sanjay Raut said that discussions will he held on several issues including electronic voting (EVM) machines and Lok Sabha seat sharing.

Addressing a press conference here Mr. Raut said, “The agenda of today’s meeting is to be one. Discussion will be held on many issues including EVM machines, Lok Sabha seat sharing, and also decide on what will be the name of the front. - ANI

Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi left his mother Sonia Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence on Monday to take part in the two-day meeting of opposition parties in Bengaluru.

Congress has rallied support from 26 parties for the second opposition unity meeting to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. -ANI

Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan is likely to attend the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance meeting on July 18 as the ruling party goes all out to put up a show of strength amid hectic efforts by the Opposition to unite against the Modi Government.

Union Minister Nityanand Rai met with Mr. Paswan on Friday night for the second time in a week, and the LJP(R) also shared a letter written by BJP president J.P. Nadda to the young leader, inviting him to attend the NDA meeting.

Read more:BJP chief Nadda writes to Chirag Paswan to join NDA meeting on July 18

In a significant development related to the BJP-Jana Sena Party (JSP) alliance in Andhra Pradesh (AP), JSP president Pawan Kalyan and his party’s political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar will attend the NDA meeting being held in New Delhi on July 18.

Mr. Kalyan received an invitation to take part in the deliberations of the constituents of the BJP-led ruling coalition, according to a JSP release.

Read more: Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan to attend NDA meet on July 18

Amid increasing speculation over a possible Janata Dal (Secular) and Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in Karnataka ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the regional party is believed to be looking at the outcome of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties meeting in Delhi on July 18 to make its move that is likely to settle the issue of appointment of the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly also.

Read more:BJP-JD(S) tie-up: Regional party looking at outcome of NDA meeting on July 18

“The Opposition has discounted the JD(S). The leaders organising the Mahagathbandhan are under the illusion that the party is finished. So I am not bothered whether they have extended us an invite or not... We have not received an invitation from there (NDA meeting) as well. Let’s see there is still time.

The party is doing what it needs to for the people. I was reading in the papers today that 42 farmers have died by suicide. Instead of addressing that, the Opposition parties are spending crores of rupees on putting up banners promoting the meeting for Mahagathbandhan. They do not care about the farmers. The State government has not reached out to them even once.

Selfishness has infested the opposition unity, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma claimed here on Monday, ahead of the two-day meeting of the BJP’s rival parties in Bengaluru.

Hitting out at the opposition parties’ attempt to form a grand alliance, senior BJP leader Mr. Sharma said, “No matter how many alliances are formed, they will not be able to counter PM Narendra Modi.” “99% of the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) has disintegrated. People do not have faith in leaders of Opposition parties, while the faith in Modiji has increased,” he said. -PTI

Claiming “BJP is clueless and their policies are hurting India,” Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday said the leaders of Opposition parties are gathering in Bengaluru to “preserve the idea of India” and the Constitution.

”We have all come together with a certain ideology, and we have come together to preserve the idea of India and the Constitution. If the BJP has a problem with our unity, it means that they are afraid that they will be unseated,” the Congress leader told ANI ahead of the 2-day opposition meeting starting in Bengaluru today. -ANI

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi will be part of a dinner that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be hosting for Opposition leaders in Bengaluru.

Sources said MDMK, KDMK, VCK, RSP, Forward Bloc, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Kerala Congress (Joseph) and Kerala Congress (Mani) are the new invitees who were not part of the June 23 meeting. Together, these 24 Opposition parties have around 150 Lok Sabha members and hope to expand their footprints.

Rashtriya Lok Dal‘s (RLD) Jayant Chaudhary announced that he will be attending the Opposition meeting in Karnataka, yet, there is speculation about the RLD joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) soon.

Ahead of the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah welcomed the leaders of the prominent Opposition parties in the country.

“I heartily welcome the leaders of the prominent opposition parties in the country who have come together to fight against authoritarianism, communalism, and corruption,” he said in a tweet.

As the Opposition preps up for its second joint meeting scheduled to be held in Karnataka’s Bengaluru, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K. Annamalai came down heavily upon the meet, saying no one wants to know about it.

“An alliance against an individual person (PM Modi) will not last more than three months. No one wants to know about the opposition meeting to be held in Bengaluru. When there is a Cauvery Management Board, the CM of the state (Karnataka) has no authority to say that he will not give water to Tamil Nadu”, Mr. Annamalai told the reporters. -ANI

Reacting to the upcoming meeting of Opposition parties in Karnataka’s Bengaluru on Monday, BJP leader and former Uttar Pradesh Minister, Siddharth Nath Singh said that the opposition is left with no agenda and is getting desperate and frustrated.

“The opposition is left with no agenda as they are getting desperate and frustrated. The public will win or opposition unity will win, this will be decided in 2024,” Sidharth Nath Singh said. -ANI

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar will not participate on the first day of the two-day joint opposition meeting to be held in Bengaluru from Monday, the party said. However, senior Pawar will attend the meeting on Tuesday, the second day of the meeting, said Maharashtra Spokesperson of NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction, Mahesh Bharet Tapase. -ANI

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav will travel to Bengaluru on Monday to attend the second meeting of the opposition parties.

Top leaders of 26 opposition parties are expected to attend the two-day brainstorming session where they are likely to start work on a common minimum programme and announce a joint agitational plan to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. -PTI

BJP president J.P. Nadda alleged on Sunday that opposition parties are forming an alliance to “protect” their dynastic politics and that the Congress-led UPA stands for “utpidan, pakshpat and atyachar” -- oppression, favouritism and atrocities.

The proposed coalition of the opposition parties is not a “Patriotic Democratic Alliance”, but a “Protection of Dynasties Alliance”, Mr. Nadda said. -PTI

Making the road to Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election smoother, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday announced that it will attend a meeting of Opposition parties in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18.

The announcement came hours after the Congress said it would not “support” an Ordinance on control over services in Delhi passed by the Central government.

Read more:AAP confirms it will join Opposition meet in Bengaluru