Next Opposition Parties Meeting To Be Held In Bengaluru On July 13-14, Says NCP Chief Sharad Pawar

Opposition parties meeting in Patna

Following a a four-hour-long meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna, it was announced that?a?total of 17 parties are going to contest the 2024 general elections together against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).?

The meeting in Patna was a result of months-long efforts to bring the Opposition parties to a common platform to put up a united front against the BJP. The idea of the meeting was floated by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee when Nitish met her in April.?

Earlier, the second meeting was slated to be held in Shimla?and a common agenda of the coalition was to be finalised in the meeting.?

"We have come together in national interest; those in power at Centre are against national interest...Next meeting of opposition parties to be held in Shimla; future plan of action to be chalked out soon," PTI had quoted Nitish as saying after the meeting.?

Nitish presided over the meeting that was attended by political bigwigs from top opposition parties,?including Mamata Banerjee,?Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal, and DMK chief and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin. Nitish?described the talks as "positive" and a "good meeting".

Speaking at the press conference after the meeting, Kharge who will preside over the next meeting?said that the common agenda of the 17 parties would be finalised in the same.

(This is a developing story. More details are awaited.)