'Here to save democracy...': Indian opposition parties convene in Bengaluru for mega meeting

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Indian opposition is busy mustering a face of unity to counter the BJP juggernaut. On Monday, the alliance of anti-BJP parties converged in the southern city of Bengaluru to brainstorm ideas on how to checkmate the ruling party.

Leaders of at least 26 opposition parties arrived ata five-star hotel in the city after the first meeting took place in the eastern city of Patna last month.

Ahead of the gathering, the opposition party leaders conducted a press conference wherein Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal was quizzed if theopposition camp will no longer be called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

"We will take all decisions in the meeting. I cannot tell now what issues will be discussed. We are not alone in the meeting, there are other parties. We will discuss in the meeting tomorrow whether UPA will remain the name or something else," said Venugopal.

As for the agenda of the meeting, the opposition said they were here to 'save democracy' in the country.

"We are not here to come to power, we are here to save the world's biggest democracy.We will decide in this meeting what will be the future course of action."

Meanwhile, Karnataka Deputy CMDK Shivakumar said, "This is not the meeting of an individual political party, it is shaping this country for the future of 140 crore people who are suffering on various issues...We feel that with this understanding & unity, we will take it forward and the results will come out - as Karnataka gave us a mandate, the entire country will give us a mandate in 2024. We will take it forward."

Watch |We have decided to fight elections together', says Nitish Kumar after opposition meet

Sharad Pawar to attend opposition meeting

One of the biggest talking points ahead of the meeting was the attendance ofNationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. While earlier reports claimed that Pawar was skipping the meeting, the party confirmed that he will participate on the second day of the meeting.

"National President @NCPspeaks @PawarSpeaks Saheb and Executive President @supriya_sule will attend the meeting of opposition parties to be held in Bengaluru on Tuesday 18th July," tweetedMahesh Bharet Tapase, spokesperson of NCP's Sharad Pawar faction.

NCP has been divided ever since Ajit Pawar took off and forged an alliance with the ruling NDA government in the western state of Maharashtra.

Notably, this is not the first time when the opposition has seemingly joined hands and attempted to put up a strong front.However, the final outline has always remained blurry, disjointed and in the end, a failed exercise.

Earlier, such opposition unit (Third front) was forged, at least on paper, to challenge the duopoly of BJP and Congress. Butin recent times, Congress has also joined the smaller parties after witnessing its vote count shrink considerably in the last two general elections.

This time, the opposition parties are wary that allowing the BJP-led NDA to run free could be fatal to the fortune of several legacy parties, including Congress.

However, the challenge remains bigger than ever. Despitelosing the recent Karnataka assembly polls, BJP continues to be a phenomenal vote-puller on the national level, primarily due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE: