File picture of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti addressing a press briefing in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and CPI General Secretary D. Raja after the conclusion of the Opposition leaders’ meeting, in Patna on June 23
| Photo Credit: ANI
The next meeting of opposition parties will be held in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, the Congress announced on Monday, and asserted their resolve to defeat the BJP has been strengthened by the “Mumbai operations” of the “BJP washing machine”.
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Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal made the announcement of Opposition meeting dates on Twitter and said “we are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces”.
“After a hugely successful all-opposition meeting in Patna, we will be holding the next meeting in Bengaluru on 17 and 18 July, 2023. We are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces and present a bold vision to take the country forward,” Venugopal said.
Congress general secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh took a dig at the BJP over the NCP’s Ajit Pawar and eight other leaders being inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.
“Yesterday when the BJP Washing Machine restarted in Mumbai with its ICE (Incometax, CBI, ED) detergent, BJP-inspired obituaries on Opposition unity were being planted. The obit writers will be disappointed. The next meeting of the parties that met at Patna on June 23rd will be held in Bengaluru on July 17th & 18th,” he said.
“If anything the Mumbai operations have strengthened Opposition resolve,” Mr. Ramesh said on Twitter.
In a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ramesh tagged a picture of ‘Modi Washing Powder’ with the tagline ‘saare daag chutkiyon mein dhule (removes all stains in a jiffy)’.
TMC’s leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien also tagged Venugopal’s tweet and said, “Bengaluru Summit. All For One. One For All.”
Earlier, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had said the next opposition meet will be held in Bengaluru on July 13-14. Those dates were said to be clashing with the Assembly sessions in a few states.
The first meeting of opposition parties was held in Bihar’s Patna on June 23.
