Next Opposition meeting to be held in Bengaluru on July 17-18

The first meet took place in Patna.

The second meeting of Opposition parties to be held in Bengaluru has been rescheduled to July 17 and 18 owing to Assembly sessions in Karnataka and Bihar, amid the NCP facing an existential crisis following a split that raised questions about unity in the non-BJP bloc.

Initially, the meeting was scheduled to be held in Shimla around July 12 but adverse weather conditions prompted the leaders to shift the venue to Bengaluru on July 13-14. Though the new date and venue were announced by NCP chief Sharad Pawar, some Opposition leaders had said that the schedule would be decided later owing to reservations from certain quarters.

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On Monday, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal announced the new schedule on Twitter, saying, "After a hugely successful all-Opposition meeting in Patna, we will be holding the next meeting in Bengaluru on 17 and 18 July, 2023. We are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces and present a bold vision to take the country forward."

Tagging Venugopal’s tweet, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien said, “Bengaluru Summit. All For One. One For All.”

The leaders will converge in Bengaluru on the evening of July 17 for discussions, which will continue the next day. Leaders of parties are having bilateral discussions as well ahead of the ‘Bengaluru Summit’ to finetune their stands.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of a setback for the NCP after Ajit Pawar shocked his uncle and party chief Sharad Pawar by joining the BJP government in Maharashtra. NCP Working president Praful Patel who attended the first meeting of Opposition in Patna on June 23 also walked over to the other side with junior Pawar.

“The big effect of what happened in Maharashtra will be that we will be stronger in our resolve to ensure that democracy defeats dictatorship. We will have a better meeting in Bengaluru. But our cooperation is not only for 2024 but beyond,” O’Brien said.

With the slight delay in the next meet, the Opposition leaders will have a little more time to convince the AAP to soften its stand, which wants the Congress to announce its stand in advance on the contentious ordinance on control of bureaucrats in Delhi. AAP has said that it would be difficult for it to attend any meeting with Congress, if it does not announce its stand soon.

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Sources said JD(U) had requested a change in date as Bihar Assembly would be in session between July 10 and 14. Karnataka Congress also pointed out to its central leadership that the state Assembly session would be taking place between July 3 and 14 and they preferred a date after that for the important meeting.

Earlier, some Opposition leaders had suggested to the Congress to hold the meeting in Jaipur as Rajasthan is a poll-going state and a united show of strength would send a strong signal. However, Congress preferred Bengaluru after Shimla was ruled out.

Opposition managers were a bit apprehensive about DMK's participation in Bengaluru because of the Mekedatu issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, but sources in DMK said Chief Minister M K Stalin would attend the meeting as "he is clear about the necessity of forging Opposition unity".

At the Patna meeting on June 23, the parties had fixed Shimla as their next destination for a meeting in mid-July and Congress as the host to formulate a “common agenda” and "state-specific plans” to “unitedly” fight the 2024 elections to defeat the BJP.

More parties will be invited to the Bengaluru meeting than the 15 parties which attended the Patna deliberations. While RLD could not attend the Patna meeting, parties like Forward Bloc, RSP, MDMK, VCK, Muslim League and Kerala Congress (Mani) will be invited for the second meeting.