Gearing up for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has rallied support from a total of 25 parties for the second Opposition Unity meeting in Karnataka’s Bengaluru beginning on Monday. Leaders of at least 26 Opposition parties will converge at a hotel in Bengaluru on July 17-18 as part of their efforts to present a united front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the Centre. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar, has been deputed as in-charge to monitor all the preparations for the meeting. Arrangements have been made for all the opposition leaders to stay at a five-star hotel in the city, party sources said. And all the opposition leaders will start arriving for the meeting in the afternoon. An informal meeting is scheduled at 6 pm after which there will be dinner at 8 pm. On July 18, the meeting will kick off at 11 am and will continue till 4 pm. Following this, there will be a press conference in which the campaign strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls may be announced. According to sources, the name of the opposition alliance will be decided, and the common minimum program will be discussed in the Bengaluru meeting. Moreover, several committees are expected to be formed which will hold meetings to deliberate on various problems that may arise in the alliance.
Various groups and sub-groups may also be formed, they said. Sources said that a discussion may also be held on how to field a common opposition candidate on at least 80 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats against the BJP, how to have alliances in the states, and how to distribute tickets at key constituencies. “In the meeting, deliberations will also be held on Uniform Civil Code (UCC),” they added. All bigwigs in the opposition, including former Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, along with Rahul Gandhi are expected to attend the crucial opposition meeting in Bengaluru. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also confirmed its presence at the meeting on Sunday.