We will felicitate Rahul Gandhi in Mumbai on September 1, says Nana Patole

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday said that the party will hold a grand felicitation for its senior leader Rahul Gandhi who was recently reinstated as an MP when he arrives in Mumbai this week for a meeting of the opposition INDIA blocNana Patole also said that the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA ndash Congress Uddhav Thackerayled Shiv Sena UBT and the Nationalist Congress Party NCP group with Sharad Pawar ndash will discuss the seatsharing formula for next yearrsquos Lok Sabha polls on the basis of meritldquoThe autocratic Modi government in the country took action against the Congress leader MP Rahul Gandhi out of political vendetta but he did not budge and bravely faced Modis dictatorship without any fear Rahul Gandhi instead gave the message of lsquoDaro Matrsquo do not be afraid Keeping in mind the sentiment of all Congress workers Gandhi will be felicitated on September 1 in Mumbairdquo he saidldquoRahul Gandhi was falsely accused and his Lok Sabha membership was suspended after which he was also forced to vacate his government residence but Rahul Gandhi did not back down After the Supreme Courts decision the Modi government had to restore Rahul Gandhis MP status Participating in the noconfidence motion against the Modi government Rahul Gandhi attacked the government He slammed the Modi government on the issue of Manipur Rahul Gandhi the fearless warrior of the Congress who has stood against the dictatorial rule in the country will be felicitated on September 1 at 5 pmrdquo Nana Patole said while addressing media after reviewing the preparations for the felicitation of Rahul Gandhi at the Congress office Tilak Bhavan in DadarResponding to a query on the seatsharing formula in Maharashtra Nana Patole said ldquoIn the Mahavikas Aghadi there is no contest or fight over the allocation of seats for the Lok Sabha elections Uddhav Thackeray has also made it clear that seats will be allotted according to merit and the Congress party is also taking the same standrdquoHe further said that that MVAs aim is to defeat the Modi government and this alliance is focusing on itAlso read Mumbai Aaditya targets BMC over lapses in civic hospitalsFormer Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that BJPs criticism of the INDIA bloc meeting is ridiculousldquoWith 28 parties across the country united against the Modi government Narendra Modi has hastily called a meeting of the NDA allies as soon as the second meeting of the INDIA alliance was being held in Bengaluru Modi and BJP are scared seeing the strength of INDIA alliance In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections 62 percent people voted against Modirdquo Chavan saidldquoThe opposition parties have decided not to allow division of votes this time As INDIA Aghadi stands strong parties like BRS are being promoted by the BJP to split votesThere are internal contradictions in the BJPled Shinde government in the state It is a fact that even though this government has been in office for more than a year it has not been able to appoint guardian ministers in each of the districts the cabinet has not been expandedrdquo he addedHe further said that disputes are also going on between the ruling parties over the allocation of fundsldquoThe controversy in the government is affecting farmers youth workers and investment in the state Due to the unstable political situation in Maharashtra no big investor is coming to set up business here A major project like Vedanta Foxconn moved out of the state Even now Apple company has invested Rs 5000 crore in Tamil Nadu Karnataka state Due to this the youth of the state are deprived of employment Increasing the export duty on onion to 4037 is causing loss to farmersrdquo Chavan saidPrithviraj Chavan has demanded that the central government should immediately cancel the export duty as onion is being sold for Rs 200300 per kg in Japan and China ldquoIf onion is exported farmers will get more moneyrdquo he said