What is the rally called?
United India Rally
Why is it being organised?
It is a rally bringing together leaders of regional and national parties to showcase the strength of the opposition in order to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has called for unity of the Opposition parties, especially the regional parties from all major states in the country. She has said at various times in the past, that regional parties strong in their own states must fight the BJP, instead of fighting against each other.
Banerjee is the host of today’s United India Rally, and she has invited the top leaders of all major national and regional parties. The rally is significant in that it will be a show of opposition strength in the country and a show of the people’s support for the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.
As a host, the Trinamool Congress wants to ensure that leaders from other states are impressed by the turnout. Naturally, attempts are being made to break all past records.
Who will attend the United India Rally
Earlier this week, Banerjee had announced that the following leaders had confirmed their presence:
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Deve Gowda, his son and Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, Delhi chief minister and leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh chief minister and leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) N Chandrababu Naidu, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader, Laloo Prasad Yadav’s son Tejaswi Yadav, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh, National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, DMK leader MK Stalin among others. Arun Shourie, who was a minister in the BJP-led government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will also be present. Actor turned politician Shatrughan Sinha will also be present at the rally. Sinha is a member of the BJP, but he has been a severe critic of the BJP government.
Will the Congress attend?
Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi won’t attend the rally. But Congress will be represented by Mallikarjun Kharge. A day ahead of the rally, Rahul Gandhi wrote to the Bengal CM wishing success for the mega event. Expressing his support to ‘Mamata-Di’, Rahul Gandhi said that the “entire opposition is united” and that the rally would send out a “powerful message of a united India.”
So, who is left out?
The Left, of course. But Mamata Banerjee is not complaining. She has said that she had invited Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. However, he hadn’t confirmed whether he would attend. Banerjee said that if someone did not attend the rally due to political reasons, s/he was within their rights to do so, and she respected the decision. This also goes with her policy that every national and/or regional party should fight in their strong bastion to oust the BJP instead of contesting among themselves.
Deve Gowda and Akhilesh Yadav all praise for Mamata Banerjee
HD Deve Gowda and Akhilesh Yadav arrived in the city on Friday evening and met Mamata Banerjee.
Deve Gowda said that the entire nation was united to defeat the BJP. He also stressed that the post of the Prime Minister was not the concern for the opposition parties. “People of the country will decide that,” he said. He also praised Banerjee and said she was really working hard to unite the regional parties. “She has taken a historic decision,” he said.
Akhilesh Yadav said that the country wanted a change and a new Prime Minister. “Parivartan ki awaz Bengal se uthegi,” he said (The call for change will be from Bengal). Banerjee also met former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang.
Number of people to attend the mega rally
Lakhs of people have started arriving to Kolkata from the various districts of West Bengal at least two days before the rally. The Trinamool Congress has arranged several places for their lodging and food. Accommodation areas have been brought under CCTV surveillance for security reasons.
Around 2,000 Trinamool Congress volunteers have been deployed by the party to help the supporters. According to organisers, four to five lakh people have already arrived by road, railways and waterways to participate. More are scheduled to arrive by trains – via Howrah, Santragachhi, Sealdah – on Saturday morning. They will head straight to the meeting venue. Buses, trucks, shuttle cars etc. have been booked by party leaders.
The total turnout figure is expected to be announced today, an impressive figure breaking past records, the Trinamool top brass hopes.
Security measures
Unprecedented security measures have been taken keeping in mind the nature of the rally and the expected turnout. Over 6,000 police personnel will be on supervision of the rally.
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