Mumbai: The third meet of national opposition I.N.D.I.A. will give a clarion call of ‘Chale Jao BJP’ (Go Away BJP) during its two-day Mumbai conclave from August 31-September 1, a top Congress leader said here on Monday.
State Congress President Nana Patole said that various political parties around the country have united against the ‘tyrannical’ rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and have made a thunderous fist called I.N.D.I.A. to give a unified challenge.
“Just as Mahatma Gandhi had given the slogan ‘Quit India’ to the British rulers from Mumbai, we shall also issue a ‘Chale Jao BJP’ call at the Mumbai meeting,” said Patole.
He said the alliance will also unveil its new logo at the meeting in the presence of all the parties, adding that more parties including some from the ruling NDA are likely to join the I.N.D.I.A. group.
Patole said besides Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, six CMs including Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, presidents or top leaders of various other parties will also join the conclave.
The Congress leader said that the prime ministerial candidate for next year’s Lok Sabha polls will be decided after consultations among the senior leaders attending the meeting later this week.
“However, as a Congress worker, I feel that Rahul Gandhi should be the PM. The people of the country are fed up with the BJP and PM Narendra Modi who is fast losing his popularity,” asserted Patole.
Referring to ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), he said that Sharad Pawar himself made it clear that some of his party colleagues led by Ajit Pawar have joined hands with the BJP to escape the threats of the ED and other central probe agencies, and not for any developmental agenda.
He also slammed the Maharashtra government for the huge delays of over 17 years in the Mumbai-Goa Highway project which is reeling under corruption, and how public money is being allegedly looted in the name of the ‘Government at Your Doorstep’ campaign.
“The present (state) government is implementing the programmes and policies of the previous Congress governments and grabbing credit for them,” said Patole.
Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing for the I.N.D.I.A. conclave at the Grand Hyatt five-star hotel with over 100 rooms booked and all other arrangements being made to host the top opposition leaders who will start arriving here from Wednesday onwards.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi ally, Shiv Sena (UBT), is hosting the meet this time and party President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray is personally overseeing the arrangements for the conclave.
After the meeting, some of the top leaders of I.N.D.I.A. will have a media interaction on the outcomes on Friday afternoon at the venue, informed Shiv Sena (UBT) Secretary and MP, Anil Desai.
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