FOCUS ON JOBS
After the formation of a strong alliance between Samajwadi and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) last week in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the lower house, Modi's party faces a risk of losing elections, Banerjee said.
Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi, said Modi had failed to fulfil his promises including job creation.
"Modi had promised to create 20 million jobs a year but after a faulty launch of national sales tax and demonetisation in 2016 more than 10 million jobs were lost," he said.
India's unemployment rate hit 7.4 percent in December, highest in 15 months, while the number of people employed fell by nearly 11 million from a year ago, a report by the Mumbai-based Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, said this month.
Politicians at the rally, whose organisers said was attended by more than a million people, said India's growth had slowed during Modi's term and their first priority was to defeat him, adding a replacement would be decided after the elections.
The BJP dismissed the prospects of an opposition alliance, questioning who would lead such a coalition.
Modi is expected to detail a package worth more than 1 trillion rupees ($14 billion) in his last budget on Feb 1, including benefits for farmers and other taxpayers. ($1 = 71.2000 Indian rupees)
