Jana Sena Party Chief Pawan Kalyan To Participate In Mega NDA Meeting On July 18

This will be the first such NDA meeting of this scale during the second term of the Modi government, seen as the BJP's show of strength in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

Jana Sena Party on Saturday informed that its supremo Pawan Kalyan will participate in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting on July 18 in Delhi. A number of new BJP allies such as the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the NCP faction headed by Ajit Pawar, several smaller parties from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and regional parties from the northeastern states, are among those expected to attend the NDA meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at the meeting, regarded as the BJP's show of strength of the ruling bloc in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

This will be the first such NDA meeting of this scale during the second term of the Modi government after a number of old and key BJP allies, including Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal, and the Janata Dal (United), severed ties with the party over a host of issues.

In a big move ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) invited National President of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) Chirag Paswan for the July 18 meeting of the NDA. BJP chief JP Nadda wrote a letter to Paswan addressing LJP as 'an important part of the NDA' led by the saffron party. Notably, the announcement comes days before the opposition's second mega huddle on July 17 in Bengaluru.

The letter, tweeted by news agency ANI, says, "In the last 9 years, the NDA government under the leadership of respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given a new height to the multi-dimensional development of the country. In the NDA government, remarkable works have been done in many areas including poor welfare, restoration of cultural pride, economic progress, defense and security of the country, India's strong reputation abroad."

Nadda further said, "The NDA government has realised the real vision of service and good governance in the last 9 years. As a result, under the leadership of Honorable Prime Minister, India of Amritkal is taking forward the journey of development of the country with the new dreams of Vision-2047 with public participation and public trust."

"You are cordially invited to this meeting. Your role as an important partner of NDA and your cooperation not only strengthens the alliance but also strengthens the country's development journey. Your presence is requested in the meeting of NDA partners," the letter further read.