Shiv Sena (UBT) to host third Opposition meeting in Mumbai on August 31-September 1

This will be the third meeting of the Opposition parties, who had earlier met in Patna and Bengaluru. The Opposition parties had decided to name their alliance INDIA, an acronym coined by former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. They have decided to unitedly fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

New Delhi/Mumbai: Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) will host the third meeting of the Opposition parties in Maharashtra's capital Mumbai on August 31 and September 1 in Mumbai, party spokesperson Sanjay Raut said Saturday.

Raut, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha, told reporters in Mumbai that Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party will be a part of the meeting after a meeting of the Maha-Vikas Aghadhi (MVA). Raut further informed that the meeting will take place at Hotel Grand Hyatt in suburban Santacruz in India's financial capital and that the meeting will be followed by press conference on September 1 evening.

The meeting in Mumbai was attended by former NCP chief Sharad Pawar, NCP working president Supriya Sule, former Maharashtra Chief Ministers and Congress leaders Prithviraj Chavan, Ashok Chavan and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Nana Patole among others. Raut said that the meeting will commence with a dinner hosted by Shiv Sena (UBT) supremo Uddhav Thackeray.

The INDIA bloc's first meeting was held in Patna in June and the second in Bengaluru last month. The coalition is also likely to announce the composition of committees for specific actions such as communication and 2024 general election campaign in the run-up to the polls. According to sources, a joint secretariat for better coordination among the parties will also be announced soon.

During the meeting, the parties are expected to iron out their differences as much as possible, especially in states where they are in a direct poll battle. At the Bengaluru meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had announced the name of the opposition bloc -- Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) -- after a nearly four-hour-long meeting of the 26 parties.

He had said a committee of 11 members would also be set up for coordination, and a convenor will be selected at the next meeting. The 26 opposition parties which are part of the opposition alliance are: the Congress, TMC, DMK, AAP, JD(U), RJD, JMM, NCP (Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT), SP, NC, PDP, CPI(M), CPI, RLD, MDMK, Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK), VCK, RSP, CPI-ML (Liberation), Forward Bloc, IUML, Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Mani), Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), and the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK). (With PTI inputs)