‘CM to attend meet called by Sonia Gandhi’
MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray will participate in the virtual meeting of CMS and Opposition leaders convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on August 20, said Shiv Sena leader and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut. The meeting is seen as an attempt to consolidate the Opposition’s unity against the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)-led Central government.
Gandhi has reportedly invited CMS of other non-bjp ruled states, including West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu’s MK Stalin and Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren. Besides them, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar could also be participating in the virtual meeting.
Raut said that the Opposition is united and will continue building its strength. “Unity among the Opposition [parties] is strong. All parties met at Kapil ji’s [Congress leader Kapil Sibal] home recently. Sonia Gandhi ji has convened a meeting of all prominent Opposition leaders, including chief ministers. Maharashtra CM, too, will participate in it,” Raut said.
Senior Congress leader and Maharashtra minister Balasaheb Thorat said that the aim is to keep “democracy alive”. “This monsoon session, we saw in that all the Opposition parties had come together to strengthen the democracy. This is an attempt to fight BJP, which is attacking the democracy. Sonia ji has convened a meeting and we will collectively participate in it and the democracy will remain alive in this country.”
During the recently-concluded monsoon session of the Parliament, around 15 Opposition parties together took on the government on various issues, including the alleged Pegasus snooping issue, rising fuel prices and farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws. A series of Opposition parties’ meeting also took place in Delhi wherein Raut participated on behalf of Sena.
Top Opposition leaders gathered at Sibal’s home on Monday evening and informally discussed how they could work together ahead of the next general polls in 2024 to defeat BJP, HT had reported on Tuesday, citing three attendees of the event.