Congress is all set to celebrate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on August 20 in Mumbai. On the day, the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar will be sharing the stage with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi as the alliance will likely sound the poll bugle on the day.
The grand old party has decided to organise a meeting at the Shanmukanand Auditorium in Mumbai at 3 PM. As per the Congress's statement, the party is also likely to conduct a rally in Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.
Besides Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC in-charge for Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala, Congress state President Nana Patole, and Mumbai Congress President MP Varsha Gaikwad among others will also attend the event.
Legislative Party leader Balasaheb Thorat, Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, Legislative Council group leader Satej Bunty Patil, are among the other leaders who will be present at the meeting.
The Congress has planned several programmes in Mumbai, the birthplace of Rajiv Gandhi, to mark his birth anniversary, PTI reported.
The MVA constituents Congress, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) had announced their decision to contest the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections together.
However, deliberations for the sharing of seats are yet to gain momentum.
On Friday, a meeting of MVA allies was held in which Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray put across his demand that the alliance declare its CM candidate in advance without waiting to first know how many seats each party of the alliance bagged in the assembly elections.
He also expressed readiness to support any leader from the Congress or NCP (SP) for the CM's post, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said. Refuting claims of pressure politics, Raut said: "It was not pressure politics. This stand benefits Maharashtra."
Raut also asked the Mahayuti alliance, comprising Shiv Sena, BJP, and the NCP to declare their CM's face as well.
The Maharashtra Assembly polls for its 288 constituencies are due in October-November this year.
The MVA defeated the Mahayuti alliance in Lok Sabha elections 2024, bagging 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. The BJP faced a shocking defeat as it lost 14 constituencies of the 23 it had won in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.