The Maharashtra Congress will hold a grand felicitation for its senior leader Rahul Gandhi, who was recently reinstated as an MP, when he arrives in Mumbai this week for a meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc, party's state chief Nana Patole said on Tuesday.
Patole also said that the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP group with Sharad Pawar – will discuss the seat-sharing formula for next year's Lok Sabha polls on the basis of merit.
Key leaders of the anti-BJP bloc INDIA, which has more than two dozen parties now, will gather in a luxury hotel here on August 31 and September 1 in what will be their third huddle since coming together on a common platform for the first time in June in Patna.
Patole said, “The Modi government disqualified Rahul Gandhi from Parliament as part of its revenge politics. But he did not budge and instead gave the message of ‘Daro Mat' (do not be afraid). The state Congress will hold a grand felicitation of Rahul Gandhi as he will be spending two days here for the INDIA meet.”
Responding to a query on the seat-sharing formula in Maharashtra, Patole said, “There is no competition for seats in MVA. Even Uddhav Thackeray has clarified that seat sharing will be done on a merit basis. Our goal is to defeat the Modi government.”
He said that about 62 per cent of voters did not vote for the BJP in 2019.
“We want to avoid the division of votes against the BJP. Political parties like BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) are coming (to Maharashtra) to divide votes as they are supported by the BJP,” he said.
On Monday, Patole had said that senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and chief ministers of half a dozen states will attend the INDIA meeting. The gathering will also see the unveiling of the grouping's logo, he said.
The first meeting of the bloc was held in June in Patna, while the second gathering in Bengaluru in July finalised its name – Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
