Opposition parties to hold meeting, date to be announced soon: Congress' Venugopal
May 22, 2023
New Delhi [India], May 22 : The opposition will hold a meeting in which a large number of parties will participate, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said on Monday.
His remarks came after a meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is leading the charge of uniting the opposition parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of next year's Lok Sabha polls.
Nitish Kumar, in this bid, is holding meetings with a number of opposition leaders, the latest of which was with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi.
Venugopal, who was also present at the meeting, said that the meeting was fruitful which revolved around the opposition parties' meeting.
"Attended a meeting at Hon'ble Congress President Sh. @kharge ji's residence along with Sh. @RahulGandhi ji, with Bihar CM Sh. @NitishKumar ji and JD(U) President Sh. @LalanSingh_1 ji. We had a fruitful conversation about the upcoming opposition parties' meeting and will decide the date and place of the meeting in the next two days. We are committed to building a consensus among all like-minded parties," Venugopal tweeted.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, he said that the date of the meeting will be announced soon.
"Opposition parties meet will be held. The date and place of the meeting will be announced within 1-2 days. A vast number of parties will be taking part in the meeting," he said.
Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav had met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital on Sunday and had extended support to the AAP leader against the Centre bringing an ordinance which is seen to have nullified Supreme Court judgement handing over reins of "services" to the Delhi government with some exceptions.
Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav met Kharge and Rahul Gandhi last month also.
Meanwhile, the Bihar CM had also attended the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka's new Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru after Congress party's landslide victory in the state.
After the results, Kumar had told reporters, "Efforts are underway to unite the opposition as it would be in the interest of the whole nation."
"They (Congress) had a massive win (in Karnataka). If Opposition parties come together, that will be in the interest of the nation, efforts are underway for that," Kumar had said.
Nitish Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders to "strengthen the bloc" against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Kumar had caught the national imagination with his pitch for a "united opposition" which he believes, can take on and defeat the BJP in next year's Lok Sabha polls.
