Approximately 80 leaders from more than 26 political parties are expected to attend the third meeting of the INDIA alliance in the country's financial capital, they said.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged top opposition leaders to rise above political compulsions to take on the BJP in the interest of the nation and start planning "systematically" to realise the "ultimate goal" of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls
The actor, who has been vocal about her criticism of the state government's handling of the investigation into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death and labelled Bollywood a drug haven, lashed out against Thackeray a day after his Dussehra address.
The alliance would announce a coordination committee, which could be of 11 members from principal opposition parties.
That she turned down the post of the prime minister was simply flabbergasting, the daily said.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Saturday received a grand welcome in Baramati, which is his assembly constituency and also the pocket borough of party chief Sharad Pawar, on his first visit after joining the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra and parting ways with his uncle.
The last Sena man to occupy the CM's chair was Narayan Rane in 1999, after Manohar Joshi, who in 1995 became the first Sena CM.
Ahead of the Mumbai meeting, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said that a few more political parties were likely to join the opposition INDIA during its upcoming meeting.
"I am putting efforts to get the Opposition together. I am not in the race to become the prime minister as I am not contesting the next (Lok Sabha) election," he told reporters.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Mumbai on Tuesday, a day after quitting the Congress.
Bharti accused the media of distorting her statement, attributing it to the BJP's agenda.
The Shiv Sena on Monday said it disapproved of fast as a political weapon, but argued that yoga guru Baba Ramdev was a citizen of India, and had every right to create a political space for himself.
The piece also sought to know why Fadnavis did not once come forward to defend his colleague.
'I just invited PM Modi for Kalki Dham for shilanyas, so what crime did I commit as a Congressman?'
"If I get a proposal from the Congress, I will consider," he told reporters in Ajmer. He added that Gandhi was competent to lead the country.
He, however, also said that his party was in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for long despite their differences, and it worked smoothly.
The former Maharashtra chief minister in his letter pointed out the high mortality rate in the state and alleged that the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government was neglecting Vidarbha, Marathwada and North Maharashtra in the fight against the pandemic.
The Congress said the rally by the INDIA will send a "strong message" to the Lok Kalyan Marg, where the prime minister's residence is located, that the BJP-led government's "time is up".
By ending the Shiv Sena's political untouchability, the Congress is creating a level playing ground for itself in the political battle of Hindu identity, explains Sheela Bhatt.
In 1999, Sharad Pawar, along with P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar were expelled from Congress. The same year, Pawar founded the NCP.
Mounting an assault on the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday asked the voters in Maharashtra not to be swayed by the party which "spreads hatred in society". She said BJP and Shiv Sena might have parted ways but in reality they are one.
'Let Shah Rukh release the film with the blessings of the Italian woman (Sonia Gandhi) and Yuvraj (Rahul Gandhi) without any protection and let it run in any theatre anywhere in the country. Sena will not oppose it,' Sena chief Bal Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana.
'Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal can be the game changers of 2024.'
Most leaders agreed for early finalisation of poll plans for 2024 stressing that there was no time left with them and mere meetings would not help.
The alliance leaders are getting together for the third round of the brainstorming session in Mumbai, after Patna and Bengaluru, to chalk out their common campaign strategy to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In a stinging attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Sunday said it wouldn't be surprising if the Enforcement Directorate issues summons against former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the National Herald newspaper case and paste the notice on his memorial.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Within a gap of seven hours, two high-profile but diametrically opposite campaigns in this city set the tone for the coming Maharashtra Assembly elections. While Congress President Sonia Gandhi pitched for an inclusive growth with greater emphasis on poorer and backward section, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's high-decibel slogans catered only for the 'Marathi issue'.
Rane said three Sena MLAs owing allegiance to him, who quit the Sena, would contest the bypolls as and when announced by the Election Commission.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday said the rebels have chosen their way and there would be no hindrance from the party in the path of the dissidents to associate with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Sena will play the role of constructive opposition to the new government.
Pawar also announced a panel of senior party leaders to draw a future course of action. Party workers and leaders, however, demanded that Pawar withdraw his decision.
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
If the party's members aren't sure what it stands for, see no path to wealth or power, and endure control by a dynasty, which, almighty as it is within the party, cannot get them the votes, they are likely to explore options, notes Shekhar Gupta.
His five-year rule saw the Babri Masjid demolition, the rise of the saffron forces and also the country being placed firmly on a new economic path, away from the Nehru years of public sector socialism.
In his address over Facebook on June 22, Thackeray had talked about his willingness to step down if the rebel MLAs come to Mumbai and make such a demand.
Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pankaja Munde on Friday said she was planning to take a break for "one or two months" as she was anguished at her integrity being questioned time and again.
The Narendra Modi government should adopt an aggressive "tit for tat" policy towards Pakistan and should teach it a lesson if it creates trouble for India, National Democratic Alliance constituent Shiv Sena said on Tuesday.
The alliance adopted a resolution to this effect and said its theme for the elections will be "Judega Bharat, Jeetega India, (India will unite, India will win)".
Launching a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said the Congress vice president's dream of victory in the Lok Sabha elections is like filling gas in a balloon which is full of holes.
Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane on Friday lashed out at the Congress leadership, after state Industry Minister Ashok Chavan beat him to the chief minister's post."Chavan cannot handle even his ministry. He can't be my competitor for the CM's post, he said, adding that he was opting out of the chief ministerial race.Rane, a well-known detractor of former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, also accused the Congress high command of reneging on its promise.
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