INDIA bloc to give ‘BJP Chale Jao’ call in Mumbai, alliance has capable PM faces: Patole

The gathering will also see the unveiling of INDIA bloc 's logo and opposition leaders will discuss their agenda ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said

Mumbai: National opposition alliance INDIA will give the slogan of “BJP Chale Jao (BJP Go Away) during its upcoming two-day conclave in Mumbai, said Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Monday.

He said the grouping has many capable candidates for the post of Prime Minister and claimed some parties which are currently constituents of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) may switch over to INDIA.

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Key leaders of the anti-BJP bloc, which has more than two dozens parties now, will gather in a luxury hotel in suburban Mumbai on August 31 and September 1 in what will be their third huddle since coming together on a common platform for the first time in June in Patna.

Speaking to reporters here, Patole said senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and chief ministers of half a dozen states, among others, will attend the meeting.

The gathering will also see the unveiling of the grouping’s logo and opposition leaders will discuss their agenda ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said.

Patole said, “Mahatma Gandhi gave the slogan of ‘Chale Jao’ (Quit India) to the British from Mumbai (in 1942). Likewise, the slogan of the Modi government ‘Chale Jao’…’BJP ‘Chale Jao’ will be given at the INDIA meeting in Mumbai. The logo of the bloc will be unveiled on August 31.” He said six chief ministers, including Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal) and Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and presidents of various other parties will be present at the gathering.

“The INDIA alliance has many capable candidates for the post of Prime Minister, but the BJP has no candidate for the top post,” Patole claimed.

The MPCC president said NCP founder Sharad Pawar has made it clear that some NCP leaders, including his nephew and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, have joined hands with the BJP because of fear of ED (Enforcement Directorate) action and not for development of the state.

The first meeting of the anti-BJP bloc was held in June in Patna, while the second gathering in Bengaluru in July finalised its name — Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

The grouping has been formed with an aim of taking on the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 parliamentary polls.