Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee's mega rally for a grand alliance of opposition parties kicked off this noon. More than 20 national leaders, including three present chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Chandrababu Naidu and HD Kumaraswamy; and former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav and Gegong Apang are attending the rally. The event -- called the "United India Rally" -- aims at uniting various political parties against the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Although the Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi decided to skip the event, the party sent senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
The TMC has made all efforts to make the event a grand success. Lakhs of TMC supporters and workers who arrived from various corners of the state have been put up in the outskirts of the city and in some auditoriums and stadiums.
A thick security blanket has been thrown on the sprawling Brigade Parade Ground - the venue for the mega rally - to prevent any untoward incident.
