Not Shimla; After Patna, Opposition Parties To Head South To Bengaluru For Next Meet On 13-14 July

Sharad Pawar, the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), said on Thursday (29 June) that Bengaluru will host the next opposition meeting on 13 and 14 July.

During the first opposition meeting in Patna on 23 June, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had said that the upcoming meeting to strategise a united front against the BJP would take place in Shimla.

In Patna, 16 opposition parties convened to streamline a roadmap for challenging the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Following the four-hour meeting, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) engaged in heated exchanges.

The AAP stated that it would not participate in future opposition meetings involving the Congress unless the party publicly denounces the central government's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.

Recently, Pawar said that the Patna meeting did not involve any discussion about the "prime ministerial post." The NCP chief highlighted that the meeting instead focused on issues like inflation, unemployment, and "deliberate attempts" to encourage communal violence in certain parts of the country.

Following the Patna opposition meet, which was hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the parties held a joint press briefing where they announced their intention to fight the polls with a common agenda and a state-wise strategy.

Home Minister Amit Shah was among the top BJP leaders who dismissed the meeting, calling it a mere "photo opportunity."