Bengaluru: As the 2nd round of the meeting of opposition leaders to mend to an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha election 2024 comes to an end in Karnataka capital Bengaluru, former AICC President and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is hosting a dinner party for the leaders on Tuesday night, sources said.
The central opposition leaders participated in the meeting in Bengaluru where they announced the name of the opposition alliance as INDIA-Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance. More than 40 leaders arrived in the city yesterday to attend the meeting at the Taj West End Hotel on Racecourse Road. Sources said that after participating in the dinner hosted by Sonia, the leaders will leave for their respective states.
Also read: Bengaluru meet over: Opposition coalition to be called INDIA - This is what it stands for
The leaders started arriving in Bengaluru from Monday evening where they were received by Congress leaders including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal. A small meeting was held in the evening. After the formal meeting, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a banquet for the leaders.
Chief Ministers of various non-BJP ruled states and national leaders participated in this gathering. Meanwhile, sources said that Speaker of the Karnataka assembly UT Khader and Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani omitted the protocol by directly reaching out to the party leadership at a private hotel. Assembly Speaker UT Khader and Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani met AICC leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who were staying at the Taj West End Hotel in the city to participate in the meeting of opposition leaders this afternoon.
Karnataka Ministers G Parameshwar, KH Muniyappa, MB Patil, HK Patil, Dinesh Gundurao, Satish Jarakiholi, Legislative Council member BK Hariprasad also met the AICC leaders.
