MUMBAI: Sharad Pawar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), attended the opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi mega-procession on Saturday morning in Mumbai to express his outrage over the repeated derogatory remarks made about well-known figures.

Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray, Nana Patole of the Congress, Jayanta Patil of the NCP, Ajit Pawar of the Assembly's opposition, Ambadas Danve of the Council's opposition, Balasaeb Thorat of the Congress Legislative Party, among others, will march beside him.

At a location close to the Byculla flyover, thousands of activists from various political parties, labour unions, workers' organisations, women's groups, youth organisations, teachers' unions, auto-rickshaw unions, NGOs, and other groups have gathered for the march that will end at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, which is about 5 km away.

With over 2,500 people stationed along the route, drones and CCTVs watching every part of the procession, and other agencies kept on alert, the Mumbai Police has deployed extra-tight security for the maha-morcha.

After the gigantic march with 80 parties and groups organised in Pune on December 13 accompanied with a shutdown, this is the second-largest display of power.

Other notable leaders marching in the procession include the state president of the Samajwadi Party Abu Asim Azmi, Naseem Khan, Aditya Thackeray, Sanjay Raut, Dr. Jitendra Awhad, Dilip Walse-Patil, Bhai Jagtap, Dr. Raghunath Kuchik, Vinayak Raut, Supriya Sule, Chhagan Bhujbal, Sanjay Nirupam.

With thousands of workers pouring in from all over the state since Thursday evening, leaders of several parties excitedly assert that the parade today might draw over three lakh spectators.

The state governor was removed for his recent comments, industries fled to Gujarat, and a boundary dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka unexpectedly erupted. These are the main targets of protest.

The demonstrators are also drawing attention to the sharp inflation that the general public is experiencing, the rising unemployment rate, the lack of employment opportunities for young people, the disparaging remarks made by several ministers of the ruling alliance about women, and other pressing issues.

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