Maha Vikas Aghadi to hold rally in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on April 2

MUMBAI: The Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, will hold a rally in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, formerly Aurangabad, on April 2.

The opposition alliance plans to hold joint rallies in all seven revenue divisions of the state over the next two months.

The components of the MVA will meet on March 15 for the third time since the Budget session of the Assembly began and prominent leaders and office-bearers from all seven revenue districts will be in attendance, state NCP chief Jayant Patil told PTI on Saturday.

”The message of unity needs to percolate to the grassroots,” said Patil, who admitted the MVA faces a double challenge of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party by staying united as well as strengthening its own grassroot cadre.

This process will smoothen after the MVA holds joint rallies in the state, Patil added.

In the last few days, MVA leaders, including former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, have met on two occasions to discuss the floor strategy in the Maharashtra legislature’s budget session and to project unity outside.

Incidentally, Thackeray has asked his supporters to reach out to people and had also held a rally in Khed in Ratnagiri district, a part of the state’s Konkan region, which was a stronghold of the undivided Shiv Sena.

Meanwhile, Patil dismissed speculation of a rift with ally Congress on the NCP’s support to the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-BJP alliance government in Nagaland, where Assembly polls were held last month.

The NCP’s support was for the chief minister (Neiphiu Rio) who belongs to the NDPP, Patil asserted. The NCP won seven seats in the 60-member Nagaland Assembly, while the Congress, once a powerhouse in the state, drew a blank with a paltry vote share of 3.55 per cent.

Source: Press Trust of India