Eighteen opposition parties, including the JD-U, are expected to meet here on July 11 and evolve a strategy for the upcoming vice presidential election, sources said on Friday.
To cement cracks that appeared in the opposition bloc during the presidential poll -- when the JD-U broke ranks to support the NDA's candidate -- the non-NDA parties had decided to meet to discuss the August 5 election, the sources said.
The meeting, convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Parliament library, will be attended by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and leaders of the other opposition parties.
The parties will also discuss floor management for the monsoon session of Parliament, which starts on July 17.
The process of filing of nominations for the vice presidential poll started on July 4 and will end on July 18.
The sources said every party had been asked to give in their suggestions at the meeting, and the opposition was likely to take a final call on the election.
"So far no names have have been given by the Congress or any other party," CPI national Secretary D Raja said, adding that the names were likely to be discussed -- and possibly finalised -- at the meeting. The sources said apart from the Congress and JD-U, all other parties -- such as the RJD, TMC, Left, JMM, DMK, NCP, Kerala Congress, AIUDF, SP, BSP, RLD and JD-S -- were slated to take part in the meeting.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's JD-U broke away from the opposition combine on the presidential election with its decision to support NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind instead of opposition nominee Meira Kumar last month.