Longtime rivals to come together at Oppositions' big Patna meet on June 23

It will be attended by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

They are likely to find themselves face-to-face with some of the party's most vocal critics like Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, and Akhilesh Yadav.

Banerjee will also share the platform with leaders of the Left Front, her bitterest political rivals for decades.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief MK Stalin, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar will also be present, said Janata Dal United National President Rajiv Ranjan.

"We believe that our unity and commitment to the purpose of defending democracy is the need of the hour and we will succeed in defeating the divisive forces in power today," Congress's KC Venugopal said in Delhi.

Ahead of the June 23 meeting, most of the leaders are expected to meet in Chennai at the birth centenary functions of M Karunanidhi.

The agenda is expected to be a common strategy for the election and involves fielding only one opposition leader against a BJP candidate in a constituency to stop a split in opposition votes.

Several leaders, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee, have expressed their views in favour of it. 

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar, who has shouldered the responsibility of bringing the opposition together ahead of the 2024 general elections, is expected to chair the meeting.

Most opposition leaders have said they are on the same page on the need to stop the BJP in next year's Lok Sabha election and united more strongly after the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament.