Rahul Gandhi backs "Mamata Di" ahead of mega Opposition rally
What's the story
On Friday, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the mega 'United India' rally in Kolkata on Saturday.
The Congress President expressed his party's support for the mega rally of Opposition leaders, and said that the "entire Opposition is united" ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Here's more on what he had to say.
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What RaGa had to say about the rally
Despite the Congress being a rival of the TMC in West Bengal, RaGa voiced his support for "Mamata Di", and said he hoped that the show of the Opposition's strength would send a powerful message of a united India.
He added that millions of Indians had seen through the "false promises and lies peddled by the Modi government" and were hopeful of a new government coming into power.
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RaGa: True nationalism and development can only come through democracy
"The entire Opposition is united in our belief that true nationalism and development can only be defended on the tested pillars of democracy, social justice and secularism, ideas that the BJP and Mr Modi are intent on destroying," said the Congress President.
Rally
A brief overview of the mega Opposition rally
The rally is scheduled to be held on Saturday at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Grounds, and leaders from around 20 Opposition parties are expected to attend, including H D Kumaraswamy, Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav, H D Deve Gowda, Farooq Abdullah, and Omar Abdullah.
It's expected that the TMC will prop Mamata Banerjee as a leader who can lead these parties against the BJP.
Mamata
Mamata Banerjee could take center stage in the proposed alliance
On Thursday, Mamata Banerjee had said that Saturday's rally would be a "historic" one, and would sound the "death knell for BJP".
It's expected that leaders who attend the rally will informally deliberate on forming a grand Opposition alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
With Mamata being the glue pulling these diverse political figures together, she could well be a PM candidate from the alliance, if there is one.