BENGALURU: With a significant jump in the number of parties joining the anti-BJP united Opposition — up from 16 at the June 23 meeting in Patna to 26 for the Bengaluru meeting scheduled for Tuesday — an air of confidence pervaded the venue at Taj West End hotel here on Monday. “We are sure this is going to be a game-changer,” AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said.
While most leaders, including former AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal arrived by Monday evening, NCP chief Sharad Pawar will reach here on Tuesday for the meeting.
Venugopal said the meeting will start at 11 am and deliberate on the future course of action as well as the strategies to be jointly adopted in Parliament, which will be in session from Thursday. “Alliances for the (Lok Sabha) elections and the parties to contest, these are the things we will discuss. It will not happen in one meeting, it will take two or three more meetings. It will take time,” he said.
Since parties other than the UPA partners are also at the meeting, if required, discussions will also be held on a new name to replace the United Progressive Alliance. On party leader Rahul Gandhi’s role, Venugopal said he is a mass leader. “In the last meeting in Patna, everybody praised him for the Bharat Jodo Yatra,” he said. People are in great distress due to unemployment and price rise. “We are not here only to attain power. We are here to address people’s genuine concerns,” he added.