Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar next meeting of leaders from opposition parties will be held at Bengaluru on July 13 and 14.
“PM Modi has become restless after opposition parties’ meet in Patna”, the NCP chief said, referring to the June 23 huddle which leaders from 15 opposition parties had attended in the Bihar capital.
The opposition leaders who had met at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's residence had earlier announced they would meet in Shimla on July 10-12. The meeting would be held to prepare an agenda for moving ahead together while working in the respective states to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024.
Nitish Kumar had termed the huddle a ‘good meeting’ and added that the opposition parties had decided to fight the elections together. The huddle was attended by opposition leaders including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
However, differences erupted between the Congress and AAP over the Centre's ordinance which curtailed the power of Kejriwal government in Delhi. After the meeting, the AAP released a statement slamming Congress for not clearing its stand on the ordinance.
The AAP also declared that it will be difficult for it to attend future meetings of opposition parties where Congress is present.
However, the BJP has been dismissive of the opposition leaders' meet, calling it a photo-op. “Today, a photo session is going on in Patna where entire leaders of the Opposition have assembled on one stage. They want to convey a message that they would challenge the BJP, NDA and Modi ji. I would like to tell them that despite their attempts, unity among them is not possible”, Union home minister Amit Shah had said in a public meeting on the day opposition leaders had met in Patna.