PM Modi, Amit Shah 'afraid' of grand alliance, says Singhvi

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah are "afraid" of the grand alliance and that's why they keep on poking fun at it.

Singhvi has arrived in Kolkata to attend a rally organised by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground today. The Congress will be represented officially represent by Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.

TMC is organising the rally to gather support for a pan-India anti-BJP front. Banerjee had been touring the country since the last one year in an effort to shore up a strong and united opposition front to fight the Lok Sabha elections against the BJP.

"I want to congratulate West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee... All the people (participating in the event) have the same agenda - to avoid the division of votes, which BJP has always been in favour of. The policies of this BJP-led central government need to end," Singhvi told media here.

"Today, there is a feeling of fear in the country there is a feeling of vengeance. We have to come forward to stand against it as one. The Prime Minister, BJP and Amit Shah are afraid today. That's why they keeping on poking fun at this grand alliance," he added.

Among those to be present at the rally include Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin, National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Satish Misra, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh and leader Jayant Chowdhury, former Union ministers and disgruntled BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, Opposition leader in Mizoram Lalduwahawma, former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang, former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and Gujarat independent MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani.

Interestingly, BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha will also attend the anti-BJP rally. However, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Left parties will not be attending the rally.