23 August,2023 09:50 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Pic/Maharashtra Congress
Leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have met Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar ahead of the meeting of the opposition bloc I-N-D-I-A in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1, reported news agency PTI.
After the interaction with Phansalkar on Tuesday, Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council Ambadas Danve told reporters that their delegation discussed security preparations ahead of the I-N-D-I-A alliance's meeting, which will be attended by top opposition leaders including chief ministers of various states, reported PTI.
Apart from Danve, the delegation comprised Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule, Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Desai, among others.
The I-N-D-I-A bloc's first meeting was held in Patna in June and the second in Bengaluru last month.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, known by its abbreviation I-N-D-I-A, is an opposition front announced by the leaders of 26 parties to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to challenge the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The logo of opposition I-N-D-I-A alliance is likely to be unveiled during the front's meeting in Mumbai, sources earlier told PTI.
This opposition bloc's first meeting was held in Patna in June and the second in Bengaluru last month.
The leaders of the INDIA front, including chief ministers of five states, as well as former Congress president Sonia Gandhi are expected to arrive in the metropolis before 6 pm on August 31, the sources told PTI.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will host dinner for the visiting dignitaries at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in suburban Mumbai on August 31. The next day, the meeting will take place at the same venue followed by a press conference, they said.
Lunch will be hosted for the opposition leaders by the Congress party's state and Mumbai units, they added.
According to the sources, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi may visit the state Congress headquarters Tilak Bhavan in central Mumbai after the meeting on September 1.
Naseem Khan, who is a working president of the Maharashtra Congress, said all the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders, including Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and Ashok Chavan are engaged in micro-level planning to ensure that the meeting is a success.
"The visitors will be accorded a traditional welcome on their arrival at the hotel. All leaders have been holding regular meetings as part of the preparations," he said.
The meeting held on Sunday was attended by Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut, Congress leaders Varsha Gaikwad, Milind Deora and Naseem Khan, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Narendra Verma, among others.
(With inputs from PTI)
