Rahul Gandhi, Opposition’s mega rally at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park today; Sharad Pawar, MK Stalin to join
The Congress-led Opposition’s INDIA alliance is set to hold a mega rally on Sunday in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin is prominent among the INDIA bloc leaders, who will attend the concluding rally of the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
The meeting comes a day after the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi concluded his 63-day-old Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai by paying tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar at his memorial Chaityabhoomi in central Mumbai and reading the Preamble of the Constitution. The yatra, which commenced from strife-torn Manipur on January 14, entered Mumbai from neighbouring Thane on Saturday.
Besides MK Stalin, top Opposition leaders such as Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, RJD leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav will take part in the mega rally.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, CPI general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren, and former CM Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren will also take part, news agency PTI reported.
The meeting will also mark the launch of the INDIA bloc’s campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, whose schedule was announced by the Election Commission on Sunday. Voting for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19 and ending June 1. The counting of polls will be held on June 4.
The Congress-led INDIA bloc’s rally in Maharashtra is being held at a time when several party leaders from the state have switched over to the BJP, the most prominent being former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. Chavan joined the BJP in Mumbai on February 13.
Earlier, on Wednesday, senior party leader Padmakar Valvi also joined the BJP, in the presence of the BJP’s state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule and party leader Ashok Chavan, in Mumbai.
Rahul Gandhi to take out Nyay Sankalp Padyatra
Ahead of the INDIA bloc’s major rally, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will undertake a ‘Nyay Sankalp Padyatra’ from Mani Bhavan to August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai on Sunday, PTI reported, citing a party leader.
Gandhi will also interact at Tejpal Hall near the August Kranti Maidan.
Mani Bhavan was the home of Mahatma Gandhi whenever he was in Mumbai, while the Congress was founded on December 28, 1885, at the Tejpal Hall.
On Saturday, Gandhi while addressing a public meeting in the Dharavi area, reiterated the Congress’ promise of caste census and asserted that poor women would get ₹1 lakh every year in their bank accounts if his party returned to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
“Dharavi is yours and should remain yours. Your skills should be honoured and this place should become a manufacturing hub of the country,” he said, according to PTI.
The former Congress also targeted the Adani Group, which has been awarded the project to redevelop the slum sprawl. “The country’s wealth is being given to certain corporates,” he alleged.