Opposition meet in Bengaluru: What to expect as 24 parties come together

After meeting almost a month ago – they met on 23 June – leaders of various opposition parties will meet again in Bengaluru to chalk out their strategy to unitedly fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress in charge Randeep Surjewala have ensured that all arrangements are made for the leaders who will arrive in the state capital today for the two-day meeting, on 17 and 18 July. Reports state that the leaders of the various parties will first meet on 17th night for an informal dinner hosted by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, which will then be followed by a marathon meeting from 11 am on Tuesday.

Opposition leaders are expected to build on the momentum they gathered at the first meeting that had taken place in Patna in June, hosted by Bihar’s Nitish Kumar.

As these leaders meet, here’s what we know about who’s coming, who’s not and the agenda for this ‘maha’ Opposition meet.

The guest list

With the Opposition serious about taking on the BJP in the upcoming general elections, the numbers are what matters; they need to put up a united front.

The Opposition meet will see a larger participation this time – a total of 24 parties, nine more than the Patna meet, are expected to gather for the meeting today and tomorrow. The new attendees expected in Bengaluru are the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Krishna Patel-led Apna Dal from Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, parties such as the MMK, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi (KDMK) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) from Tamil Nadu are also expected to join.

Moreover, Congress’ allies from the Kerala – the IUML, Kerala Congress (Joseph) and RSP will also attend the meeting. The Quint reported that even Left Front allies, the Forward Bloc and the Kerala Congress (Mani) will see representation at the Bengaluru meeting.

Interestingly, the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP), whose presence was a huge question mark ahead of the Bengaluru meet, on Sunday also confirmed that the would be in attendance. Earlier, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had made it clear that it won’t join any alliance with Congress until it shows its stand on the Delhi ordinance issue.

AAP’s announcement came after the Congress made it clear it would oppose the Delhi ordinance in Parliament. Reports say that some of the other parties such as the TMC worked behind the scenes nudged the Congress to make its stance clear on the issue.

Speaking to the Indian Express earlier, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said: “Our stand is very clear. From day one, we had been saying that the BJP government’s attitude of bulldozing states is not at all acceptable to the Congress. India being a federal system, we don’t support using the Governors and Lt Governors for snatching away the powers of Opposition-ruled states. As far as the Delhi ordinance is concerned, we said clearly that our Parliamentary Strategy Group would meet before the session and we would discuss and decide on the Bills, which Bill we are supporting and which Bill we are opposing … In that meeting, we decided we cannot support this attack on federalism, attack on the independent powers of the state governments.”

The Bengaluru meet will also see former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in attendance along with son Rahul Gandhi, who has suffered a setback in the Modi surname case.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already confirmed her presence for the meeting. Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Uddhav Thackery, Sanjay Raut and Aditya Thackery will also be attending the meet. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad also said that they will travel to Bengaluru on Monday for the meeting of the opposition parties.

Tamil Nadu CM and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin was one of the first leaders to confirm his attendance at the meeting.

Interestingly, News18, citing sources, reported that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar may skip the Bengaluru meeting in light of the political developments in Maharashtra. A day ago, rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who was sworn in as Maharashtra deputy chief minister and allocated the finance portfolio, met his uncle, raising eyebrows.

What’s on the table?

As the leaders meet, there’s a lot of ground to be covered. Issues such as seat sharing and greater coordination and communication among the parties will be discussed. Also, they will deliberate on whether to give the grouping a formal name and draw up a common programme but they seem to be divided on both issues

Let’s take a closer look at what’s the agenda. Firstly, the Opposition leaders will discuss the issue of better coordination as the nation gears up for the Monsoon Session of Parliament, scheduled to begin from 20 August.

The AAP is surely to bring up the need to counter the Centre’s ordinance curtailing the powers of the elected government in Delhi. The Kejriwal-led party wants the joint Opposition to block this in Rajya Sabha where the BJP doesn’t have the full majority.

The other issue that will be discussed at large is the possibility of the introduction of a bill for the Uniform Civil Code. The Opposition is not united on this issue and it will be interesting to see how they figure the matter out.

As one Congress leader told the Hindustan Times, “We will discuss and evolve a strategy for the monsoon session of Parliament. Issues such as the violence in Manipur, the train accident at Balasore, the assault on the federal structure and the role of governors are some of the key issues of common interest for all participants.”

Apart from this, one of the key issues that will be discussed is the matter of seat sharing. It is being reported that there is a plan to discuss the process for deciding seat sharing on a state-to-state basis.

One of the other important discussions will be whether to give the grouping a formal name and draw up a common programme. While some of the parties believe it is too early to give the grouping a formal name, another section of believes that giving the grouping a name and structure will display a sense of purpose.

While refusing to divulge the full agenda of the meeting, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said, “The mission is clear — work unselfishly, unitedly, and present the India we cherish with a vision for 2024 and beyond,” said TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien.

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury also echoed similar sentiments, saying, “Our objective is to save India. We should now be looking at national campaigns on issues such as misuse of central agencies, the attack on the federal structure, role of governors, inflation and unemployment.”

The leaders of the parties attending the meeting are also likely to decide on a timeline of events – such as joint protests and rallies targeting the NDA government. They would also discuss where the next Opposition meeting will take place and what the agenda would be.

BJP’s show of strength

Incidentally, the Opposition’s meet in Bengaluru will coincide with the BJP’s meeting on 18 July in New Delhi. This will also see the BJP’s new and old allies attending; reports state that nearly 30 parties will be in attendance for it.

Earlier, BJP president J P Nadda alleged that opposition parties were in the process of forming an alliance to ‘protect’ their dynastic politics. The proposed coalition is not a ‘Patriotic Democratic Alliance’ but a ‘Protection of Dynasties Alliance’, he had said in Jaipur, as per a PTI news report.

With inputs from agencies