Sonia Gandhi, Nitish, Lalu among 24 top leaders to attend second opposition meet in Bengaluru

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will attend the second meeting of the United Opposition in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, senior Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader and Bihar minister Sanjay Kumar Jha said.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will attend a meeting in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18," said Jha, a close aide to Kumar.

Talking to media persons, Jha said that the outcome of the first major opposition meeting attended by leaders of 15 parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Patna was positive.

A total of 24 parties are likely to attend the second meeting of the united opposition in Bengaluru on 18. Other notables from Bihar who will attend the Bengaluru meeting include Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. RJD is a key component in the six-party grand alliance government comprising Congress, RJD, JD(U), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation (CPI-ML) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPM.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is also likely to attend the meeting in Bengaluru. While the Indian Union Muslim League is a new entry, the invitation has also been extended to the Aam Aadmi Party after an apparent showdown at the first meeting in Patna over the Congress's support for the ordinance.

Earlier this month, Lalu Yadav claimed that the second meeting of opposition leaders in Bengaluru would be conclusive as "the final shape of the proposed front will be given in the 2024 general elections by ousting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi." ".

“We will make preparations to topple the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament in 2024 at a meeting in Bengaluru. I will participate in it. Many other issues would also be discussed,” the RJD chief said.

The Patna meeting resolved to formulate a common national agenda or common minimum program (CMP) to work out a state-level seat-sharing arrangement and also to work out an agitation program on people's issues at the next meeting in July in their bid to form a coalition that would challenge the ruling BJP in the 2024 assembly elections.