BJP, Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar Faction To Meet In Mumbai On August 31 To Discuss Lok Sabha Polls

A discussion on all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held in the meeting that coincides with the Opposition I.N.D.I.A front's gathering in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar

The Maharashtra ruling alliance of BJP, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction will be holding a meeting at Worli to discuss issues related to the 2024 Lok Sabha election on August 31-September 1, coinciding with the Opposition I.N.D.I.A front's gathering in Mumbai.

The meeting will be attended by MPs, MLAs and MLCs of the parties and a discussion on all 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held.

From Shiv Sena, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Ramdas Kadam, Dada Bhuse and other senior leaders are likely to attend. From the BJP, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Mumbai party chief Ashish Shelar will be among other leaders in attendance. 

Ajit Pawar, Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel, state chief Sunil Tatkare and other senior leaders will take part in the meeting from the NCP camp.

READ | Nitish Kumar Approaches Shiromani Akali Dal, INLD To Join Opposition's INDIA Alliance

I.N.D.I.A Oppn Alliance To Unveil Logo, Decide On Convenor

Meanwhile, key leaders of the Opposition bloc, which has 26 parties, will gather in Mumbai this week to deliberate a host of issues and unveil the grouping's logo. Besides, an eleven-member coordination committee is expected to be formed and a convenor be named at the two-day meeting.

The I.N.D.I.A alliance was formed to jointly take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The bloc has met twice in less than one month -- first in Patna on June 23 and then in Bengaluru on July 17-18.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and chief ministers of half a dozen states would attend the Mumbai leg of the meet. 

He said that the Opposition alliance would give the slogan of "BJP Chale Jao (BJP Go Away)" at the meeting. "Mahatma Gandhi gave the slogan of 'Chale Jao' (Quit India) to the British from Mumbai. Likewise, the slogan of the Modi government 'Chale Jao', 'BJP 'Chale Jao' will be given at the INDIA meeting in Mumbai," PTI quoted Patole as saying. 

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has approached former NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) to join the the Opposition bloc. The development comes days after Nitish said a "few more political parties" were likely to join the alliance during its third joint meeting in Mumbai.