New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said that the second opposition meeting to be hosted by the party in Bengaluru on July 17-18 will be a step up from the first such conclave in Patna on June 23 and will go into the specifics.
After much talk of an anti-BJP national platform for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the first opposition meeting was hosted by Bihar chief minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar. The second one would be hosted by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who has been playing the role of opposition anchor inside the Parliament.
"The Patna meeting on June 23 was the initial meeting of 15 like-minded parties who agreed to come under a common platform for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls against the BJP. The Bengaluru meeting will be the second one and will go into the specific issues,” AICC functionary Syed Naseer Hussain told ETV Bharat.
According to him, the second meeting will discuss the key pillars on which the opposition unity will be based, like a positive agenda for development, a plan for nationwide protests, the ideological plank and seat-sharing.
“We must identify the issues that all of us have been highlighting separately but will now flag jointly. Then we must present a common minimum agenda of governance before the parties. As these parties come from diverse ideological backgrounds, we also need to find a common ideological platform where all these players can contribute together. Finally, who is strong in which area and gets how many seats to contest,” said Hussain.
The AICC functionary said that the second meeting will also see participation from smaller parties who do not have a presence in the Parliament but carry influence in the states. “We thought why not widen the ambit of opposition unity and involve more players? Now 24 parties will meet on July 17-18,” said Hussain.
Asked about TMC and AAP, who at times attack the Congress, the AICC functionary said that the 2024 national polls were much more important than state fights and needed to be viewed from a larger perspective. “There are contests in the states with regional parties. But the Congress is a national party. It has to have a national vision. Plus, there is a need today to bring like-minded parties together to protect democracy in the country, to protect the Constitution which is under attack, to preserve social harmony and push inclusive growth. The very idea of India is under attack. We all have to defend it. When the top leaders will meet and discuss, a national plan would emerge,” said Hussain.
“Of course, there would be some issues here and there but those will have to be resolved amicably. We have been coordinating with around 19 like-minded parties during the past Parliament sessions and we will continue to do that in the coming monsoon session. We are confident that the Bengaluru conclave will be successful,” he said.
“We have had one opposition meeting in eastern India. Another one is being held in south India. More will follow. But the Bengaluru meeting will surely send a strong message against the BJP as we recently defeated the saffron party in the state polls,” senior Karnataka Congress leader BK Hari Prasad said.
