Opposition parties to hold second meeting on July 17 in Bengaluru
At the last meeting, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar said that 17 Opposition parties had decided to come together for next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress on Monday announced that the second meeting of Opposition parties to plan a joint strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be held on July 17 and 18 in Bengaluru.
“We are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces and present a bold vision to take the country forward,” Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said in a tweet.
After a hugely successful All-Opposition meeting in Patna, we will be holding the next meeting in Bengaluru on 17 and 18 July, 2023.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) July 3, 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.
Opposition parties had held a meeting for the formation of an anti-Bhartiya Janata Party front for the next year’s general elections in Patna on June 23.
The meeting was hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav. It was attended by leaders of the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Aam Aadmi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Samajwadi Party, National Conference Peoples Democratic Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Kumar had said that 17 Opposition parties have decided to come together to will fight the coming Lok Sabha elections together. He had said that a plan of action will be chalked out at the second meeting of the parties.
However, soon after the meeting, the Aam Aadmi Party said that it would be difficult for it to be part of the Opposition alliance if the Congress would refuse to denounce the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital.
“Until the Congress publicly denounces the black ordinance and declares that all 31 of its RS [Rajya Sabha] MPs will oppose the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha, it will be difficult for AAP to participate in future meetings of like-minded parties where the Congress is a participant,” the party had said.
The Centre had promulgated the ordinance on May 19 to create the National Capital Civil Service Authority in order to administer the transfer and posting of bureaucrats serving the Delhi government. The ordinance nullified a Supreme Court verdict passed on May 11 stating that the Aam Aadmi Party government in the national capital has legislative power over bureaucrats in all departments other than public order, police and land.