Mega Opposition meet in Bengaluru vs big NDA huddle in Delhi this week. Top points

While as many as 24 parties are set for a mega Opposition unity meeting in Bengaluru on Monday and Tuesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA has announced a big huddle in New Delhi on July 18, where nearly 30 parties are expected to join.

The Congress set the tone for the Opposition meeting on Sunday, with its general secretary KC Venugopal saying loud and clear that the principal Opposition party would not support the Delhi ordinance – indirectly supporting Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP’s demand.

Top points on the Opposition vs NDA meeting:

1. Leaders of at least 24 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 BJP-led central government.

2. Karnataka Deputy chief minister, DK Shivakumar, has been deputed as in-charge to monitor all the preparations for the meeting.

3. According to a tentative schedule, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh and Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Monday will hold a joint press conference at 11am. And all the opposition leaders will start arriving for the meeting in the afternoon.

4. An informal meeting is scheduled at 6pm after which there will be dinner at 8pm. On July 18, the meeting will kick off at 11am and will continue till 4pm. Following this, there will be a press conference in which the campaign strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha election could be announced.

5. The political plans to be explored might include joint programmes at the national level but possible seat adjustments between the Opposition parties will be left for the respective state units to decide, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

6. The Bengaluru meeting is likely to discuss the common programmes that can be achieved, what the parties need to do in the near future, assess the current political situation, and make a strategy for the upcoming Parliament session. According to sources, the name of the opposition alliance will be decided, and the common minimum program will be discussed in the Bengaluru meeting.

7. The NDA meeting, to be held at Delhi’s Ashok Hotel on Tuesday evening, will be chaired by BJP national president JP Nadda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides its alliance partners, the BJP reportedly has invited several new allies and some former ones to the meet.

8. The new members that are expected to attend are the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, perhaps represented by Praful Patel; the Shiv Sena; Chirag Paswan, Lok Sabha member and leader of the Lok Jan Shakti Party (RV); and former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Jiten Ram Manjhi along with his son.

9. Four leaders from Bihar — Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Jitan Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha, Upendra Singh Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, and Mukesh Sahani of the Vikassheel Insaan Party — have been invited, and their parties will be included in the NDA.

10. A spokesperson for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(AIADMK) confirmed HT that M Thambidurai will attend the meeting. Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma, who heads alliance partner, National People’s Party (NPP) will also attend. As HT reported on June 10, the BJP is attempting to recreate the old NDA in its 25th year anniversary, with the return of allies such as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD). In all, there were 20 constituents in the original NDA of 1998. But there’s been a delay in finalising the return of the TDP and the SAD.