The upcoming meeting of the INDIA bloc in Mumbai is significant in view of the Supreme Court staying Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nana Patole said on August 5.
The leaders of Maha Vikas Aghadi, including Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Congress leaders Prithviraj Chavan, Ashok Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, Mr. Patole and others held a meeting at Nehru Centre at Worli here to discuss preparations for the upcoming meeting of the INDIA grouping, which will be held on August 31 and September 1.
NCP State unit chief Jayant Patil, national president Supriya Sule, Mr. Thackeray’s loyalists Anil Desai and Subhash Desai, were present during the meeting.
“The INDIA alliance is against the dictatorial Central government and the first victory was achieved with the SC staying Mr. Gandhi‘s conviction in the defamation case,” Mr. Patole said.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut confirmed that his party would host the third meeting of INDIA. This will be the first meeting of the bloc to be held in a State where its partners are not in power. The first meeting was held in Patna, while the second one was in Bengaluru.
“The two-day deliberations, which will be held at Grand Hyatt here, will begin in the evening of August 31 and from 10 a.m. on September 1. The meeting will be followed by a press conference,” Mr. Raut said, adding that Mr. Thackeray will host a dinner for the Opposition leaders, including Chief Ministers of five States, on the first day.
Mr. Raut said that the MVA leaders had been assigned responsibilities for preparations of the two-day meeting, and some of them will hold talks with the State government on issues of logistics and security for the visiting INDIA leaders.
