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Sonia Gandhi to attend 2nd meeting of non-BJP parties in Bengaluru
Mallikarjun Kharge, the party chief, and Rahul Gandhi represented the Congress at the first meeting of non-BJP parties in Patna on June 24
Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will on July 18 attend the second meeting of non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties for unity ahead of the 2024 national polls and is likely to host a dinner for the leaders attending it in Bengaluru, people aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
Mallikarjun Kharge, the party chief, and Rahul Gandhi represented the Congress at the first meeting in Patna on June 24. Thirty-two leaders from 15 parties attended the meeting in Patna and all but one outfit vowed to jointly take on the BJP and forge a common agenda ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The people cited above said representatives of parties other than the 15 that attended the Patna meeting— Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Revolutionary Socialist Party, All India Forward Bloc, Indian Union Muslim League, Kerala Congress (Joseph), and Kerala Congress (Mani)—have confirmed their presence for the Bengaluru gathering.
Kharge on Tuesday sent invitations for the second meeting while underlining the “positive outcome” of the Patna gathering. He said such discussions should be continued in the run-up to the 2024 polls.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which struck a discordant note in Patna and said it will be difficult for the party to attend future meetings if the Congress did not make its stance clear on the ordinance giving the Union government control over Delhi’s bureaucracy, has also been invited for the Bengaluru gathering.
Leaders from the parties, which control 210 seats in Parliament and govern 11 states, attended the three-hour-long meeting at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s residence in Patna. Kumar called the meeting fruitful and said they have arrived at a consensus on going forward and on fighting elections together.
