Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge To Attend Opposition's Big Patna Meet

Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal on Friday confirmed that party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will attend a meeting of the top Opposition leaders convened by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, to mobilise the opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking to ANI, KC Venugopal said, "Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will attend the opposition meeting in Patna..."

He further said that it is high time to have unity between the opposition parties "to fight against these forces who are ruining the country."

Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday confirmed that he would participate in the meeting of the Opposition parties.

Speaking to mediapersons in Patna on Thursday, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said that almost 15 parties will attend the meeting. However, the presence of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was not confirmed as Tejashwi Yadav did not have a chance to speak with him.

The meeting, aimed at laying the groundwork for the coming together of like-minded Opposition parties against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government at the Centre, was originally scheduled to be held on June 12.

However, the meeting was pushed back after several Opposition leaders, including Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, expressed their inability to attend the meeting on June 12, citing prior engagements and preoccupations.

After JDU had announced the meeting of Opposition parties on June 12, earlier, DMK chief Stalin said he had sought to postpone the June 12 meeting, as he would be busy attending an inaugural ceremony on the same date.

Nitish Kumar has been rooting for Opposition unity since he left the National Democratic Alliance and joined the Grand Alliance to form a new government in August last year.
 

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