Bengaluru, Jul 18 (IANS): Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said that all the 26 parties have vowed to work unitedly.
The Congress also hit out at the BJP saying its President J.P Nadda and their leaders are running from state-to-state to patch up with their old-allies as they are scared that our unity will result in their defeat next year.
He said that the intention of the opposition parties is not to gain power for themselves but to protect the democracy in the country.
“I am happy that 26 parties are present in Bengaluru to work unitedly. Together, we are in government in 11 states today. The BJP did not get 303 seats by itself. It used the votes of its allies and came to power and then discarded them.
“The BJP President and their leaders are running from state-to-state to patch up with their old allies. They are scared that the unity they see here will result in their defeat next year,” the Congress President in a tweet said.
Hitting out at the BJP for the misuse of the central investigative agencies, the Congress leader, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said, “Every institution is being turned into a weapon against the opposition.”
“Our intention in this meeting is not to gain power for ourselves. It is to protect Democracy, Secularism and Social Justice. Let us resolve to take India to back to the path of progress, welfare and true democracy,” Kharge added.
His remarks came after 50 leaders from the 26-opposition parties on Tuesday met for the second time in Karnataka’s Bengaluru.
Besides Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former union Minister and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah and several others attend the meeting here.
The first meeting was held in Bihar’s Patna on June 23.