Sonia Gandhi likely to attend meeting of Oppn parties in Bengaluru: D K Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi is expected to attend the next meeting of opposition parties in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Monday.

He said the Congress party will hold a silent protest at Freedom Park here on July 12 as a mark of protest against the disqualification of its leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha.

“A meeting of leaders of all opposition parties (in the country) will be held on July 17 and 18, as already announced. All the leaders are going to come. (M) Mallikarjun Kharge (AICC President) has requested Sonia Gandhi to participate in this meeting. We have got a message that she will be participating in this meeting,” Shivakumar said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said: “We will welcome all leaders who want to join this great movement for change in this country.”

The first such meeting of opposition parties, keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, was held in Bihar’s Patna on June 23. Earlier, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had said the next opposition meet will be held in Bengaluru on July 13-14. As those dates were said to be clashing with Assembly sessions in a few states, it was rescheduled to July 17 and 18.

Shivakumar, who is also Karnataka Congress President, said the party under the leadership of Kharge has decided to hold silent protests on July 12 at all the state headquarters against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha. “I don’t want to speak about the Court verdict, but the political conspiracy that is going on against Rahul Gandhi to finish him off politically, we condemn it,” he said.

All office-bearers, public representatives and a large number of workers of the party, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, will be participating in the protest against the “conspiracy of the BJP government at the Centre,”

Shivakumar said.