According to sources, a total of 24 parties are expected to attend the second meeting of the unified opposition in Bengaluru on 17-18 July. Sonia Gandhi is expected to invite all party leaders to dinner on 17 July.
While the Indian Union Muslim League is a newcomer, the Aam Aadmi Party has also been invited following the apparent squabble at the first meeting in Patna over Congress’s support for the ordinance issue.
According to the source, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is expected to attend the Bengaluru conference. Dk Shivakumar, Karnataka’s deputy chief minister, had previously asserted the same.
Around 17 parties attended the Patna meeting. The invitation was sent to seven new parties this time, including 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).”
Let us remind you, KDMK and MDMK were previously BJP allies in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, and Sharad Pawar were among the opposition leaders who attended the conference in Patna on June 23. The Aam Aadmi Party has stated that it will leave the opposition coalition if the Congress does not back it on the Delhi Ordinance issue.
In the month between the first and second opposition meetings, a lot transpired politically. Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar divided the Nationalist Congress Party, with both claiming to be the legitimate NCP. Sharad Pawar is instrumental in bringing the opposition together.
Praful Patel, the leader of the Ajit Pawar camp, who attended the first meeting, mocked the meeting and said he felt like laughing at it because all sides had distinct intentions. Trinamool won a landslide victory in West Bengal’s Panchayat elections.