After SC relief to Rahul, third INDIA bloc meet to be significant: Congress

Mumbai: The third meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc will be held in Mumbai on August 31- September 1 which will be attended by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from Congress and chief ministers of at least five states.

Leaders of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) met in the Maharashtra capital on Saturday to plan the outline of the upcoming conclave which will be hosted by Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, senior leaders said.

Congress leader Nana Patole said the upcoming meeting of INDIA allies is very significant because of the Supreme Court's verdict staying Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a defamation case.

Members of INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) will discuss various issues facing the country and the role of the Central government at the upcoming meeting, MVA leaders said.

The MVA meeting was attended by NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, state Congress chief Nana Patole and other senior leaders from the three constituent parties.

"The two-day deliberations, which will be held at Grand Hyatt in the suburbs, will begin in the evening of August 31 and from 10 am on September 1. The meeting will be followed by a press conference," Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut told reporters.

He said Thackeray will host visiting opposition leaders, including five chief ministers, for dinner on August 31.

Patole said the INDIA alliance is against the "dictatorial" Central government and the first victory was achieved with the SC staying Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the defamation case.

He said the INDIA alliance will expose the "corrupt face" of the BJP which accuses others of being indulged in such practices.

"Various topics will be discussed at the Mumbai meeting. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and heads of constituent parties of the alliance, chief ministers, opposition leaders and other key leaders will attend," Patole told reporters.

He said MVA leaders deliberated to ensure that the upcoming conclave of opposition grouping in Mumbai is successful.

"The INDIA alliance has been established to oppose the dictatorial system prevalent in the country for the past nine years. The MVA is preparing to make the Mumbai meeting successful like similar meetings held earlier in Patna and Bengaluru," Patole added.

Accusing the BJP of corruption, Patole claimed many ministers in the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra are corrupt.

"We have information about their corruption and soon they will be exposed. The Prime Minister alleges corruption of Rs 70,000 crore in the Water Resources Department (when UPA was in power) and then within two days the same party (NCP-Ajit Pawar group) was made a part of the government.

"How is that possible? Do they become clean once they join the BJP? Patole questioned in an apparent reference to some NCP MLAs led by Ajit Pawar joining the Shiv Sena-BJP government last month.

He said each of the three parties- Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP, and Congress- has formed a group of five leaders to monitor preparations for the upcoming INDIA session.

Former chief minister Ashok Chavan will head the group of leaders from Congress, which will include ex-minister Naseem Khan, Mumbai unit chief Varsha Gaikwad, and former MP Sanjay Nirupam.

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party will be represented by Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil, Anil Deshmukh, Jitendra Awhad and Narendra Verma.

A Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said it will announce the names of the five leaders on Sunday.

Raut said MVA leaders will talk to the state government on issues of logistics and security for the visiting leaders, including Rahul Gandhi.

Senior Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat, opposition leader Vijay Wadettiwar, former CMs Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan, state NCP president Jayant Patil (Sharad Pawar group), ex-minister Anil Deshmukh, MP Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Subhash Desai, Anil Desai, Raut and others also attended the MVA meeting here.

"MVA leaders will talk to the state government on issues of logistics and security for the visiting leaders, including Congress' Rahul Gandhi," Raut said.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is an opposition alliance of 26 parties formed recently to take on the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

The first meeting of the opposition parties was held in Patna and the second one at Bengaluru.

At the conclave held in the Karnataka capital last month, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had said the opposition will fight the 2024 elections unitedly and succeed. Rahul Gandhi had said their fight was against BJP's ideology.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had dared the BJP-led NDA to challenge INDIA.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had publicly derided the opposition alliance INDIA, citing names such as East India Company and SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) to assert that people cannot be misled merely by the use of the country's name.