 "Opposition")
The next Opposition meeting will take place in Bengaluru on July 13 and 14, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar said on Thursday. On June 23, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had said that the next meeting to discuss the opposition’s strategy will take place in Shimla.
Sharad Pawar had recently stated that the issue of the prime ministerial candidate was not discussed at the Opposition meeting in Patna. Pawar emphasised that the meeting instead focused on discussing pertinent issues such as inflation, unemployment, and the “deliberate efforts” made by some to incite communal violence in the country.
Sixteen Opposition parties met in Patna to discuss the game plan to take on the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The opposition meeting in Patna ended with a heated exchange between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The AAP stated that it will not take part in future opposition meetings that include the Congress until the party condemns the centre's contentious ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.
At a joint press briefing following the meeting, hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the parties said they had resolved to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in a united manner to defeat the BJP and work with flexibility by setting aside their differences.
A total of 32 leaders from various parties attended the first meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his residence in Patna. The meeting was not attended by Mayawati, Naveen Patnaik, K Chandrashekar Rao, and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who were not invited. Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary excused himself from the meeting due "predetermined family programme".
The BJP dismissed the meeting, calling it as a mere "photo opportunity".
