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Opposition meet highlights: 26-party alliance to be called as ‘INDIA’, next meeting in Mumbai
Opposition Meet in Bengaluru Live updates: Over 50 leaders attended the discussion on Monday following which Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah hosted a dinner.
Opposition Meet in Bengaluru Live updates: Sounding the bugle for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday announced that the 26-party alliance would be called as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). The next meeting of the parties is scheduled to be held in Mumbai after the monsoon session of Parliament, which is scheduled to conclude on August 11....Read More
The alliance also demanded the implementation of the caste census while asserting that they have come together to defeat the "hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities" as well as "rising crimes against women, Dalits, tribals and Kashmiri Pandits".
Read: ‘From 24 in Patna to 26 parties in Bengaluru meet… PM Modi baffled’: Congress
Meanwhile, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that it's going to be "a battle between NDA and INDIA" in 2024.
According to the sources, when the "INDIA" name was suggested by Mamata Banerjee who was the first speaker at the meeting, some leaders favoured other names but finally all of them agreed on it.
Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said that the BJP was destroying the country and an alliance like "INDIA" was needed to fight back, endorsing the name, while ex-Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who was accompanied to the meeting by his son Aditya Thackeray, suggested that a Hindi tagline to the name "INDIA" should be finalised.
Non-BJP leaders of 26 parties came together for the second meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday to stitch a united alliance against the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Kharge chaired the closed-door meeting and was flanked by Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi to his right and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to his left, sources said.
Over 50 leaders from different parties attended the informal discussion on Monday following which Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hosted a dinner. Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar has been assigned to overlook the preparations for the meeting.
Read: Bengaluru Opposition meet: Who are attending the key huddle? See full list
The second meeting comes just a month after the mega Opposition meet in Patna convened by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Initially scheduled to be held at Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, it was moved to Bengaluru due to the weather conditions in the hill state. After the meeting concluded, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that like-minded opposition parties will work together to foster an agenda of social justice, inclusive development and national welfare.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA has also announced a big huddle in New Delhi on July 18, where nearly 38 parties joined.
'Well begun is half done': What Kharge said as day 1 concluded
Opposition Meet in Bengaluru Live updates: "Well begun is half done! Like-minded opposition parties shall closely work together to foster an agenda of social justice, inclusive development and national welfare. We want to free the people of India from the autocratic and anti-people politics of hate, division, economic inequality and loot. We want an India which is governed by Constitutional principles of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. We want an India which provides hope and faith to the weakest person. United We Stand, for this INDIA," Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted as day 1 ended over a dinner party.
Congress' KC Venugopal reaches hospital where Oommen Chandy passed away
Opposition Meet in Bengaluru Live updates: Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, in the Karnataka capital for the day 2 huddle, arrives at Chinmaya Mission Hospital where former Kerala CM and party veteran, Oommen Chandy passed away this morning.
Opposition's 26 vs NDA's 38 meet today: Top points
The pitched battle ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has intensified as the BJP has announced that 38 National Democratic Alliance or NDA partners have confirmed their attendance at the meeting to be held in New Delhi on Tuesday, the day 26 like-minded opposition parties will huddle for the second time within a month to strategise for the polls. Read more
Opposition Meet in Bengaluru Live updates: ‘TMC, Congress fight in Bengal and unite in….,’ BJP MLA's attack
West Bengal BJP MLA & general secretary Agnimitra Paul says, "Parties like CPM and Congress do not have any ideology. In West Bengal, they are screaming against TMC, saying that Mamata Banerjee has murdered Congress and CPM cadres and they are sitting together & having dinner in Bengaluru, talking about 'Gathbandhan'. They fight in Kerala, scream in Bengal and in Delhi they (Mamata Banerjee, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Abhishek Banerjee) go and sit together..."
Opposition Meet in Bengaluru Live updates: After Kejriwal posters, banners targeting Bihar CM spotted
Opposition Meet in Bengaluru Live updates: Karnataka | Posters and banners targeting Bihar CM Nitish Kumar were put up at Bengaluru's Chalukya Circle, Windsor manor bridge and on the Airport road near Hebbal.
Earlier, posters of Arvind Kejriwal were put up in Bengaluru on Sunday, along with several opposition leaders, who will attend the big opposition meeting to be held here.
