The next meeting of opposition parties will be held in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, the Congress announced on Monday, and asserted that their resolve to defeat the BJP has been strengthened by the "Mumbai operations" of the "BJP washing machine".
Announcing Opposition meeting dates on Twitter, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said "we are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces".
"After a hugely successful all-opposition meeting in Patna, we will be holding the next meeting in Bengaluru on 17 and 18 July 2023. We are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces and present a bold vision to take the country forward," Venugopal said.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh took a dig at the BJP over the NCP's Ajit Pawar and eight other leaders being inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.
"Yesterday when the BJP Washing Machine restarted in Mumbai with its ICE (Income tax, CBI, ED) detergent, BJP-inspired obituaries on Opposition unity were being planted. The obit writers will be disappointed. The next meeting of the parties that met at Patna on June 23rd will be held in Bengaluru on July 17th & 18th," he said.
"If anything the Mumbai operations have strengthened Opposition resolve," Ramesh said on Twitter.
In a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ramesh posted a meme of 'Modi Washing Powder' with the tagline 'saare daag chutkiyon mein dhule (removes all stains in a jiffy)'.
TMC's leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien also tagged Venugopal's tweet and said, "Bengaluru Summit. All For One. One For All." Sources in the Opposition camp said the leaders will meet in the evening of July 17 in an informal setting apart from bilateral meetings followed by a more formal interaction the next day.
A senior leader said that the Bengaluru meeting will focus on issues of broad agreement among the parties and added that all future deliberations between the top opposition leaders will be called 'summits'.
Earlier, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had said the next opposition meeting will be held in Bengaluru on July 13-14. Those dates were said to be clashing with the Assembly sessions in a few states.
The first meeting of opposition parties was held in Bihar's Patna on June 23.
At that meeting, Opposition parties had resolved to take on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, even as fissures had emerged with the AAP asserting that it would be difficult for it to be part of any such gathering in the future till the Congress publicly supports it on the ordinance issue.
At a joint press conference after the Patna meeting, opposition parties had said they would fight the polls on a common agenda and state-wise strategy, setting aside their differences with a flexible approach.
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