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Congress general secretary KC Venugopal. ANI

As leaders make a beeline to Bengaluru to attend the second meeting of the Opposition, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Monday said that whether the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will get a new name is a subject of discussion and the decision on the issue will be taken by the opposition parties unitedly.

“We will take all decisions. I can’t tell you now what are the issues that are going to be discussed. Congress is not deciding this alone. All the opposition parties will sit together and decide unitedly,” said the Congress general secretary.

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He said that the Opposition is united by common purpose to protect democracy in this country, to ensure the Constitutional rights and the independence of our institutions which are under attack.

“We are all united by a common purpose – to protect democracy in this country, to ensure the Constitutional rights and the independence of our institutions. These all are under attack by the present regime of the BJP Govt. They wanted to silence the Opposition’s voice. They are misusing agencies to suppress the voice of the Opposition. The disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament is one of the biggest examples of that. The incident happening in Maharashtra is also an example…”

Top leaders of 26 opposition parties are expected to attend the two-day brainstorming session where they are likely to start work on a common minimum programme and announce a joint agitational plan to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The meeting would begin at 6 pm with the address of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Fifteen parties attended the last meeting for opposition unity hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on 23 June.

Congress Parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi will also attend the meeting this time.

Other top leaders expected to attend the meeting include former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, besides former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

With inputs from agencies