Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi will attend the next meeting of the Opposition leaders in Bengaluru on July 17-18, for which 24 parties have been invited. Sonia Gandhi is also likely to host a dinner for Opposition leaders a day before the meeting called by the Congress as part of ongoing attempts to put up a united fight against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Leaders of 24 political parties, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), will meet in an informal setting on July 17 in Bengaluru, followed by more formal interactions the next day. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will host a formal dinner after the conclusion of talks on Day 1.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who is the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, has sent out invites in which he has referred to the “great success” of the first meeting in Patna. “The meeting was a great success as we were able to discuss various important issues that threaten our democratic polity and came to a unanimous agreement on unitedly fighting the next General Elections,” Kharge said in the letter.

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“I believe that it is important to continue these discussions and build on the momentum that we have created. We need to work together to find solutions to the challenges that our country is facing,” he wrote.

Eight new parties are expected to take part in the Bengaluru meeting. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi (KDMK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), All India Forward Bloc, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Kerala Congress (Joseph), and Kerala Congress (Mani) have been invited for the mega meet.

The first such meeting of Opposition parties, to forge unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, was held in Bihar’s Patna on June 23. Since then, a split in Maharashtra veteran Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and his nephew Ajit Pawar’s switch to the Eknath Shinde-BJP coalition in the state is in a way seen to have dampened the Opposition unity bid.

Also Read: Opposition meeting to be held in Bengaluru on July 17-18: Congress

The first meeting was shadowed by a clash between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the Centre’s Delhi ordinance, with Arvind Kejriwal demanding a declaration of support from the Congress and threatening to skip the next meeting if it was not forthcoming.