Uddhav to attend INDIA bloc meet online, says Sanjay Raut

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray will attend the INDIA bloc meeting on Monday online via video conferencing.

“The meeting was supposed to be held on June 7. We had prepared for June 7 but the date was changed to June 8. So we have informed the Congress may not be present in person but he will jin the meeting online. We are with the INDIA bloc as we want the INDIA bloc to remain strong. We will remain with the INDIA bloc,” Raut said.

The INDIA bloc meeting, happening after a long gap, is taking place amid changing dynamics within the Alliance, with DMK already saying it will not attend in the backdrop of the Congress severing ties with it to support TVK to form the government in Tamil Nadu. On Thursday, DMK spokesperson TKS Ekangovan told ANI that DMK is no longer part of the INDIA bloc.

In Monday’s meeting, where the future strategy of the INDIA bloc is proposed to be chalked out, former West Bengal CM and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will be there to present the TMC’s views and rally support amid the current developments in the state. The TMC, which has all along positioned itself as a dominant regional player within the INDIA bloc, is set to lose the clout the party enjoyed in the backdrop of the recent developments - the defeat in Bengal and the recent split in the party.