Congress president and leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has invited top opposition leaders for participation in the next unity meeting scheduled to be held on July 17- July 18 at Bengaluru.
The congress President in a letter addressed to top opposition party leaders reminded them about their participation in June 23 opposition meeting held in Patna called by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish kumar. “The meeting was a great success as we were able to discuss various important issues that threaten our democratic polity and came to a unanimous agreement on unitedly fighting the next General Elections,” Kharge said in his invitation letter.
Further which he reminded the leaders that we had further agreed to meet again in July.
“I believe that it is important to continue these discussions and build on the momentum that we have created. We need to work together to find solutions to the challenges that our country is facing,” the letter stated.
“In furtherance thereof, I request you to kindly make it convenient to attend the meeting followed by dinner on July 17 at 6.00 pm at Bengaluru. The meeting will continue on July 18 2023 from 11.00 am onwards.Looking forward to meeting you in Bengaluru,” Kharge further stated in his letter.
The first opposition meeting attended by more than 15 parties was held in Patna in view of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Leaders including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin were among those who attended the meeting.
Earlier on July 3, Congress leader KC Venugopal had annoced that the meeting of opposition parties that was slated for July 13 to 14 in Bengaluru has been shifted to July 17 to July 18.
On June 29, Sharad Pawar announced at a press conference in Pune that the next meeting of Opposition leaders has been shifted from Shimla to Bengaluru owing to the prevailing weather conditions in Himachal Pradesh.
On June 23 after the first Unity meeting was conducted in Patna, Bihar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had reportedly announced the next meeting to be held in Shimla on July 10 and 12.
In the inaugural meeting earlier in Patna, top Opposition leaders, including Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal United (JDU) chief Nitish Kumar, Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, among others, had resolved to put up a united fight against the BJP government at the Centre in next year’s Lok Sabha election.
The meeting is being held to chalk out the Opposition’s strategy for defeating the BJP in the upcoming 2024 general elections.
(with inputs from ANI)
