New Delhi: Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said that the INDIA alliance is gearing up to challenge Narendra Modi's leadership in Mumbai, ahead of the third meeting of the opposition bloc slated to take place in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.
He further stated that the opposition front will remove the Modi-led BJP government from the Centre next year, reported news agency ANI.
Speaking to reporters, the RJD chief said, "Mumbai mein Narendra Modi ke nareti (throat) pe chadhne jaa rahe hain humlog. Narendra Modi ka nareti pakde huye hain hum, hatana hai."
Notably, the 26-party opposition alliance has been formed to present a united front to face the BJP juggernaut in next year’s elections. The INDIA alliance has previously met twice before – first in Patna on June 23 and then in Bengaluru on July 17-18.
Meanwhile, according to ABP sources, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to be named as the convener of the INDIA alliance. His name is expected to be announced in the Mumbai meeting.
This comes after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's name came up for the position earlier. The Janata Dal (United) leader said that he was not driven by personal ambitions to forge opposition unity as he expressed for someone else to be made convener of the opposition coalition INDIA.
Earlier on Sunday, Nitish Kumar said that a few more political parties were likely to join INDIA when the opposition coalition will hold its upcoming meeting in Mumbai.
"We will discuss issues related to seat sharing and will also finalise several other agendas in Mumbai meet. A few more political parties will join the INDIA and it will be announced in the next meeting, Kumar, who played an instrumental role in bringing together different parties opposed to the BJP," he had said, as quoted by PTI.
Notably, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole said on Monday that the third mega Opposition meeting will have senior party leader Sonia Gandhi participating.
He also reiterated that the alliance's official logo will be unveiled during the mega huddle.