Opposition meet: watch inside visuals as 2-day conclave begins

The two-day mega Opposition meeting in Bengaluru started with a dinner meeting on July 17. 26 opposition parties are attending the conclave as part of the efforts to build a united front against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"United We Stand" is the slogan on posters that dotted the streets of Bengaluru with pictures of opposition leaders, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, NCP's Sharad Pawar, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, DMK chief M K Stalin and leaders of Left and some regional outfits.

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge arrived in the Karnataka capital on a special plane and were received at the airport by state chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav also reached later in the afternoon.

A warm welcome was also accorded here to other leaders like former chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Farooq Abdullah (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP), besides Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), D Raja (CPI) and Jayant Chaudhary (RLD).

The Congress asserted that Opposition unity would be "a game changer" for the Indian political scenario and took a swipe at the BJP, saying those who used to talk of defeating the opposition parties alone are now making attempts to breathe new life into the NDA which had become a "ghost".

The Opposition meeting coincides with the NDA meeting convened on July 18 in Delhi, where some new allies are likely to join the ruling BJP-led coalition.

With PTI inputs

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