BENGALURU: The second meeting of leaders from 26 opposition parties will be held in Bengaluru on June 18. They are expected to attend a dinner hosted by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday evening and deliberations will start from 11 am on Tuesday.
Speaking to media persons in Bengaluru, AICC General Secretary (Organization) KC Venugopal said during the meeting they will deliberate on the future course of action as well as the parliament strategy.
"We are sure that this is going to be a game changer of the Indian political scenario," he said.
“On June 23, we had a successful and fruitful meeting of opposition parties in Patna and this (Bengaluru meeting) is a continuation of that meeting,” he added.
“We are all united for a common purpose to protect democracy in this country, to ensure the constitutional rights and independence of our institutions. These are all under attack under the present regime of the BJP. They want to silence the opposition voice. They are misusing agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI to suppress the voice of the opposition,” he said.
The disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the parliament and developments in Maharashtra are examples, he said.
“They want to destabilize the democratically elected governments by misusing agencies," the Congress leader said.
Venugopal said Manipur, one of the most strategic states is burning for the last 75 days, but the Centre has not taken any concrete initiative to resolve the problem. “Total silence of the Prime Minister is shocking,” he said.
He said people are in great distress due to unemployment and price rise, but there are no concrete measures to address those concerns. "We are here to address the genuine concerns of the biggest democratic country in the world. People are aware and they will teach a lesson to those who have totally failed in governance," he added.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav will travel to Bengaluru on Monday for attending the second meeting of the opposition parties.
Kumar will be accompanied by his party JD(U)'s national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh and state Water Resources Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha at the meeting, sources said.
The meeting would begin at 6 pm with the address of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Fifteen parties attended the last meeting for opposition unity hosted by Kumar in Patna on June 23.
Congress Parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi is also likely to attend the meeting this time.
Other top leaders expected to attend the meeting include former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, besides former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Besides, the sources said, the plan is also to set up a subcommittee for chalking out the joint programme of parties that includes rallies, conventions and agitations.
A plan to discuss the process for deciding seat sharing on a state-to-state basis is also on the table.
The opposition leaders may also discuss the issue of EVM and suggest reforms to the Election Commission, the sources said.
The opposition leaders also plan to suggest a name for the alliance.
(With inputs from PTI)