E-Paper
175 hotel rooms and 60 guests, MVA gears up to host INDIA bloc meeting
As many as 60 high-profile guests from 26 opposition parties, including chief ministers, former union ministers, are expected to participate in the INDIA bloc meeting to be held in the city on August 31 and September 1
Mumbai: As many as 60 high-profile guests from 26 opposition parties, including chief ministers, former union ministers, are expected to participate in the INDIA bloc meeting to be held in the city on August 31 and September 1. The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition has booked around 175 rooms at Grand Hyatt Hotel for the two-day conclave.
All senior leaders from three MVA parties—Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP—on Wednesday held a meeting to discuss preparations for which Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar were present.
Pawar suggested that the Congress should invite all its chief ministers. “He was of the view that the presence of chief ministers will give a different status to the meeting. The same is now going to be discussed with the Congress leadership and if approved all CMs will be invited for the first time,” an MVA leader said.
A senior Congress leader, privy to the development, said, “If we invite Congress CMs then we will have to invite CMs of alliance partners as well. This needs a discussion.”
The meeting will also see two entrants to the coalitions—Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) and Swabhimani Paksha. PWP chief Jayant Patil and Swabhimani Paksha president Raju Shetti have accepted the invitation, a senior MVA leader said.
The development will provide a boost to the MVA as both the parties are connected with the farmers and have influence in parts of the state. Swabhimani Paksha is a former ally of BJP who left the ruling coalition for not implementing its promise of minimum support price (MSP) as double input cost for farm produce in 2017.
Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said the logo of the coalition will be unveiled on August 31. The coalition has also decided to form an 11-member coordination committee for better coordination. The name of the members will be discussed and finalised in the upcoming meeting, said another leader.
The leaders will be accorded a traditional Maharashtrian welcome. Nashik dhol and tutari will be played to welcome the dignitaries. On August 31, a gala dinner with spread of popular cuisines from the state along with Continental food will be held.
“We want the leaders to enjoy the specialities of the state hence jhunka bhakar, masala wangi, wada pav and puran poli among other popular dishes have been added to the list,” the MVA leader said.
The prominent leaders who are likely to attend the meeting include Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, former Jammu and Kashmir CMs Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, Samajwadi chief and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja and CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury among others.
“We would have booked the entire hotel for security purpose, but it has as many as 700 rooms and booking them all will not make any sense. Thus, it was decided to 175 rooms. It will help us in accommodating invitees, their close leaders and staff,” an MVA leader said.
