Opposition meeting to discuss seat sharing, agenda, alliance name

Bengaluru: The second meeting of opposition parties in Bengaluru is likely to see progress on the agenda of unity for the 2024 battle with the possibility that 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 beginning Monday.
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 focus on issues and make it a “Modi vs people” battle.
They said that some parties had proposed making Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar the convenor of the grouping in the meeting of opposition parties held in Patna last month and if there is a unanimity on the matter, the Congress would go along.
The sources said there is a proposal to make two-three subgroups or a coordination committee.
There is a suggestion that a group should be formed to decide on issues to be raised collectively against the Narendra Modi government. Any such group may also be entrusted with deciding the issues on which to hold agitations against the government and to stay away from issues that could help the BJP by causing “polarization”.
Sources said there is a proposal to form a group to decide on seat allocation in states.
They said that since leaders of 26 opposition parties cannot hold meetings in a short period, there is a proposal to form a group for coordination.
“There is also a proposal to formulate a common minimum programme,” a source said.
They said all issues will be discussed in the meeting and decision t taken on those on which there is an agreement.
The issues on which there is no agreement will be discussed further, they said.
The first meeting of opposition parties was held in Patna last month.
While there will be dinner for leaders on Monday evening, the formal meeting will be held on Tuesday.
Ahead of the meeting, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal lashed out at the BJP-led government and said the opposition parties are all united by a common purpose - to protect democracy in this country, to ensure the Constitutional rights and the independence of our institutions.
“These all are under attack by the present regime of the BJP Govt. They wanted to silence the Opposition's voice. They are misusing agencies to suppress the voice of the Opposition. The disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament is one of the biggest examples of that. The incident happening in Maharashtra is also an example," he said.