Bengaluru, July 17 (UNI) Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Monday arrived in the city, along with party president Mallikarjun Kharge to participate in the two-day meeting of opposition parties.

They were received by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar and other senior party leaders.

Also West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin arrived in the city for the opposition meeting.

RLD leader Jayant Singh and MDMK general secretary Vaiko also arrived in the city.

After arriving at the airport, Akhilesh Yadav said that two-thirds of the population is going to defeat the BJP.

"I hope they will hand out a big defeat to BJP. I thank the people of Karnataka who gave a crushing defeat to BJP and likewise, I am getting inputs from all corners of the country that the BJP will be wiped out," he said.

"And copycats do not pass. Just when they came to know of the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru, they (NDA) convened a meeting. So, one who copies, does not succeed," he added.

At the NDA meeting on July 18, Kharge said the BJP was rattled by the Opposition meeting as it was trying to bring "fragmented" parties together to show up numbers.

"The PM had said that he alone was enough to face the Opposition while speaking in Rajya Sabha, then why is he now knitting up 30 parties. Which are these 30 parties? Are they registered with the ECI?" Kharge enquired.

Siddaramaiah said it is Narendra Modi who spoiled the economy of the country, not Opposition parties, and therefore all the Opposition parties are coming together.

This is the second meeting of opposition parties to be held in Bengaluru after it was held in Patna ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.