Gehlot, Pilot to take oath today in presence of top oppn leaders
THE MEGA GATHERING IS BEING SEEN AS OPPOSITION’S SHOW OF STRENGTH AND AN EFFORT TO TAKE ON BJP BEFORE THE 2019
LOK SABHA POLLS
JAIPUR: More than a dozen top opposition leaders will attend the swearing-in of Rajasthan’s chief minister-designate Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot at Albert Hall in Ramniwas Garden around 10am on Monday.
The mega gathering is being seen as the Opposition’s show of strength and a collective effort to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
At least 60 leaders from outside Rajasthan, including 19 from opposition parties, will attend the oath-taking ceremony.
They include Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, All India Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi, Janata Dal (Secular) president HD Deve Gowda, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Loktantrik Janta Dal chief Sharad Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president MK Stalin and its leader Kanimozhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Hemant Soren, Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Jayant Chaudhary, Hindustani Awam Morcha’s Jitan Ram Manjhi, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)’s Babulal Marandi, Indian Union Muslim League’s PK Kunhalikutty, All India United Democratic Front’s Badruddin Ajmal, Swabhimani Paksha’s Raju Shetti and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party’s Upendra Kushwaha.
Besides Congress president Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders who will attend include Puducherry chief minister Narayan Sammy, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, Rajeev Shukla, Kumari Selja, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, Navjot Singh Siddhu, Raj Babbar, Gaurav Gogoi, Abdul Mannan (CLP leader in West Bengal), Debabrata Saikia (CLP leader in Assam), Bhupinder Singh (former chief minister of Haryana), Bala Saheb Thorat, Radhakrishnan VK Patil (CLP leader Maharashtra), and Jitin Prasad.
Inviting leaders of various parties, Gehlot has said in his letters, “Assembly election is not just a victory for the Congress party but is also a victory of progressive politics, a victory for those who uphold the constitution of India and believe in the nation’s diversity and plurality.”
Earlier, leaders of parties had participated in oath ceremony of Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy in a move to build up an opposition unity against the BJP.