’Narendra Modi ka nareti pakde huye...’: Lalu Prasad Yadav heralds Mumbai Opposition meet

Calls for political change intensified this week as the INDIA alliance gears up for a third meeting in Mumbai. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav told reporters on Tuesday that Opposition parties were essentially at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's throat in their bid to usher in change. Meanwhile Bihar CM Nitish Kumar had hinted at the possible expansion of the alliance with the inclusion of some more regional parties.

“Mumbai mein Narendra Modi ke nareti (throat) pe chadhne jaa rahe hain humlog. Narendra Modi ka nareti pakde huye hain hum, hatana hai,” the RJD chief said.

The upcoming meeting will include discussion about poll strategies and seat sharing in the states. A new logo of the INDIA alliance is also likely to be launched. 

The first meeting of the joint opposition convened in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. Both the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the Opposition INDIA grouping are now slated to hold meetings on September 1 in the coastal city.

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Senior Congress senior leader Ashok Chavan has indicated that around 26 to 27 opposition alliance parties will be present for the meeting.

“An informal gathering will be held on the evening of August 31 in Mumbai and a formal meeting on September 1. So far, two meetings have been organized. So in this third meeting, the next agenda will be discussed. We are deciding to make a common logo and it may get unveiled on August 31,” he told ANI.

Meanwhile both Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee have broached the possibility of accelerated polls. 

“I have been saying it for the last seven-eight months that the NDA government at the Centre might go for early Lok Sabha polls, fearing more loss to the BJP because of opposition unity,” Kumar told reporters on Tuesday.

(With inputs from agencies)