Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will participate in the second meeting of opposition parties on July 18 (Monday) in Bengaluru, to which 24 parties have been invited, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Sonia Gandhi is also likely to host a dinner for opposition leaders a day before the meeting called by the Congress as part of ongoing attempts to put up a united fight against the BJP in the 2024 national election.
The first opposition meeting, featuring some 15 parties, took place in Bihar at the instance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Since then, a split in Maharashtra veteran Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and his nephew Ajit Pawar’s switch to the Eknath Shinde-BJP coalition in the state is seen to have dampened the opposition unity bid somewhat.
The NCP split spurred speculation about opposition alliances fragmenting in other states, like Bihar.
At the same time, sources claim eight new parties will join the meeting on Monday.
These include the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi (KDMK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), All India Forward Bloc, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Kerala Congress (Joseph), and Kerala Congress (Mani).
The KDMK and MDMK were allies of the BJP during the 2014 election which propelled Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power.