Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) Supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the ‘United Opposition Rally’ would sound the ‘death knell’ for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
Over 20 opposition party leaders are expected to attend the rally at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground here on Saturday, and the TMC hopes to use the rally as a platform to prop Banerjee as a leader who can take along other parties and challenge the ruling BJP after the general election.
“It will be a ‘United India Rally’ against the misrule of the BJP. It will sound the death knell for the BJP. The saffron party’s seat count in the general election will not cross 125. The number of seats the state parties would win will be much higher than that of the BJP’s. The federal parties, that is the regional parties, will be the deciding factor after the elections,” Banerjee claimed.
Chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, H D Kumaraswamy, N Chandrababu Naidu, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) M K Stalin, besides dissident BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha are among those billed to attend the mega rally. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and his party colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi will also take part in the rally. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Supremo Sharad Pawar, Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) Ajit Singh, former union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, Patidar leader Hardik Patel, Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and Babulal Marandi of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha will also be present on the stage alongside the TMC supremo.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati will not attend the rally. However, they have deputed senior party leaders to attend the programme.
The BJP has mocked the rally, saying the Opposition should first decide on its prime ministerial candidate and then think of ousting Narendra Modi and the ruling party.
