Mamata Banerjee’s mega Kolkata rally to show opposition unity

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the January 19 mega opposition rally in Kolkata would sound the “death knell” for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and regional parties would be the deciding factor. The latest to confirm attendance were the former BJP troika of Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha, all of who are staunchly opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP. BSP chief Mayawati, who recently struck an alliance pact with Akhilesh Yadav-led SP in Uttar Pradesh, has deputed party general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Satish Chandra Misra in her place. Akhilesh Yadav, former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and son Omar will be among those attending the rally. So will be former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, his son and Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kerjiwal. DMK President M.K. Stalin, RLD chief Ajit Singh, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Lalu Prasad's son Tejashwi Yadav would join the rally. While Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are giving the rally a miss, the party would be represented by leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.