Non-BJP leaders to gather in Chennai for Stalin’s 70th birthday

CHENNAI: Several non-BJP leaders from across the country, including Congress national president Mallikarjuna Kharge will gather in Chennai for Chief Minister M K Stalin's 70th birthday celebration on March 1.

DMK general secretary Duraimurugan on Tuesday announced that AICC president Mallikarjune Kharge, National Conference president cum former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi president cum former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal president cum Bihar deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav would participate and greet Stalin during the celebration to be held at YMCA Grounds in Nandanam in the city.

The convergence of the non-BJP leaders of various hues from across the country happens in the backdrop of JD (U) leader cum Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar appealing for the opposition unity and issuing an ultimatum to the Congress to decide and announce its decision on rallying against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP for the 2024 election.

Duraimurugan did not hold back his views while conveying the political significance of the meeting when he announced in the statement Tuesday morning that his party leader's birthday celebration would be the starting point of several significant changes in the political history of the nation. "There is no doubt that the birthday celebration of our leader would be transformed into a significant event not only for Tamil Nadu, but the whole nation. It will be the starting point for several noble events that would usher in great changes in the political history of the nation. It would be the birth of the new dawn for India," Duraimurugan said.

Noticeably, the absence of West Bengal Chief Minister cum Trinamul Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee and Telangana Chief Minister cum BRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao's names so far in the list of guests for the birthday celebration has fueled speculation about the entire opposition not being on the same page ahead of a crucial election year. Long before Nitish issued the call for unity to the opposition, Stalin has been persuading the non-BJP parties to gang up to unseat the Modi led BJP, apparently, trying to project himself as the glue holding the opposition like his late father M Karunanidhi during the Congress-led UPA tenures.