Leaders of 24 Opposition parties have been invited for the second unity meeting being convened by the Congress next week in Bengaluru, which would see them further strategise plans to take on the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls.

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi is also expected to attend a dinner on July 17 where leaders of these parties will be present.

Sources said the MDMK, KDMK, VCK, RSP, Forward Block, IUML, Kerala Congress(Joseph) and Kerala Congress (Mani) are among the political parties that will join the second opposition meeting on June 17 and 18.

The first such meeting of Opposition parties was held in Bihar’s Patna on June 23.

Sixteen parties were invited for the meeting of which 15 had attended. RLD's Jayant Sinha could not attend due to a family function.

The Aam Aadmi Party has also been invited.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had said on Monday, "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.

While announcing the dates of the opposition meeting, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal had said "we are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces".

"After a hugely successful all-opposition meeting in Patna, we will be holding the next meeting in Bengaluru on 17 and 18 July, 2023. We are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces and present a bold vision to take the country forward," Venugopal had said.