Mumbai's Shivaji Park will witness a mega rally on Sunday that will see prominent leaders from the opposition's INDIA bloc attending it. The rally coincides with the end of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which concluded in Mumbai on Saturday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will undertake a 'Nyay Sankalp Padyatra' from Mani Bhavan to August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai on Sunday morning, said Congress sources. The party added that leaders of the INDIA bloc, including DMK leader and Tamil Nadu chief M K Stalin, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav will attend the mega rally.
"A huge rally will be organised. Leaders of the INDIA bloc will be present here to welcome Rahul Gandhi," Congress state chief Nana Patole said.
Sunday’s mega rally, which comes a day after the Election Commission announced the dates for the Lok Sabha elections, will also signal the launch of the INDIA bloc’s campaign.
Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi’s mega rally in Maharashtra comes as the party faces several setbacks in the state with prominent leaders leaving the party. While former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan joined the BJP in Mumbai on February 13, senior party leader Padmakar Valvi joined the BJP recently. Former Maharashtra minister and prominent leader Baba Siddique too had left the party to join Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi concluded his 63-day-old Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here by paying tributes to Dr B R Ambedkar at his memorial Chaityabhoomi in central Mumbai and reading the Preamble of the Constitution. Rahul was accompanied by his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. He paid tributes to Dr Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, and read its preamble.
The yatra, which commenced from strife-torn Manipur on January 14, entered Mumbai from neighbouring Thane on the 63rd day on Saturday.
The Congress leader had also addressed a public meeting in the Dharavi area wherein he reiterated the Congress' promise of caste census and asserted that poor women would get Rs 1 lakh every year in their bank accounts if his party returned to power.
"Dharavi is yours and should remain yours. Your skills should be honoured and this place should become a manufacturing hub of the country," he said and targeted the Adani Group, which has been awarded the project to redevelop the slum sprawl. "The country's wealth is being given to certain corporates," he alleged.
