Rahul writes to 'Mamata di', extends support to 'show of unity' opposition rally in Kolkata

New Delhi, Jan 18: Ahead of Mamata Banerjee's mega opposition rally in Kolkata tomorrow (January 19), Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday wrote to the West Bengal Chief Minister extending is support and said opposition unity is needed to uphold democracy, social justice and secularism.

A host of opposition leaders will participate in Mamata Banerjee's mega opposition rally in Kolkata on January 19, which will not be attended by the Left parties.

Across India, there are powerful forces afoot. Forces that are fanned by the anger and disappointment of hundreds of millions of Indians who have seen through the false promises and lies peddled by the Modi government, wrote Rahul.

Banerjee on Thursday said the mega opposition rally being hosted by her Trinamool Congress on January 19 would sound the "death knell" for the saffron party in the Lok Sabha polls and regional parties would be the deciding factor.

BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday confirmed her participation in the mega opposition rally. Mayawati said she will be sending senior party leader Satish Chandra Mishra to join the anti-BJP chorus in Kolkata.

The other leaders who confirmed their participation are: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda, Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Babulal Marandi of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), Former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, RLD Chief Ajit Singh, National Conference's (NC) Farooq Abdullah, DMK President MK Stalin, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha, SP's Akhilesh Yadav, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Telangana CM and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K Chandrashekar Rao (who is calling for a non-BJP and non-Congress front) and CPI are non-committal about their participation.