Second joint meeting of Opposition parties in Bengaluru from tomorrow; AAP, TMC participation not sealed yet

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi will participate in the key meeting, according to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister state Congress president D K Shivakumar.

The first meeting of Opposition parties was held in Patna in June. Though the Bengaluru meeting was scheduled to be held last week, it was postponed due to the political crisis in Maharashtra and the ongoing session of the Karnataka legislature.

The participation of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal is yet to be confirmed. The AAP announced it would not participate in such meetings until the Congress publicly supported it in the Rajya Sabha to negate the Centre’s ordinance governing Delhi administration.

Meanwhile, Janata Dal (Secular), the former Congress ally in Karnataka, said it would not participate in the meeting. This comes at a time when the regional party is rumoured to be cosying up to the BJP for a possible coalition during the Lok Sabha polls. “We are not going because we have not been invited,” Kumaraswamy said recently.