Sharad Pawar reaches Bengaluru to take part in opposition meeting
Jul 18, 2023
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 18 : Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar arrived in Bengaluru to take part in the second and concluding day of the opposition meeting on Tuesday. 
The senior opposition leader had skipped the first day of the mega joint meeting, where 26 like-minded parties closed ranks with a common aim of taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
NCP had seen a split earlier this month with his nephew Ajit Pawar joining the NDA government in Maharashtra with eight other MLAs. Sharad Pawar has taken action against the MLAs.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will also be holding a meeting of 38 parties of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the national capital on Tuesday.
A dinner was hosted by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for opposition leaders on the first day of the meeting.
After the dinner Congress leader BK Hariprasad said that the meeting started with a good signal and it would be the end of BJP in 2024.
Asked about the NDA meeting scheduled to be held in Delhi, he said, that would be
"National Disaster Alliance".
Earlier, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav hoped that the people of the country would hand the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a massive defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"...2/3rd of the population is going to defeat BJP. I hope that the people of the country will give BJP a massive defeat...I am receiving inputs from all corners of the country that the BJP will be wiped out...," SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said ahead of the Opposition meeting.
In this meeting, a convenor may be appointed and groups formed to decide on various issues apart from deciding on a common minimum programme.
Sources said Congress is keen that the chairperson should be from the party as it is the largest party in the grouping. However, the party may not be not adamant on the matter and would be willing to go by the combined decision of opposition parties, sources said.
They said no one has any objection to the name of former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. She is also not a contender for the post of Prime Minister and is attending the two-day opposition meeting.
The sources said that opposition parties are keen not to make the 2024 Lok Sabha polls a battle between “a leader vs Modi” but to keep the focus on issues and make it a “Modi vs people” battle.
