INDIA’s seat-sharing talks to start in states, first joint rally in Bhopal

NEW DELHI | Updated: 14 September, 2023 10:24 am IST

INDIA alliance members at the sub-group coordination meeting

NEW DELHI: The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will soon launch seat-sharing negotiations at the state level for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, and will hold its first joint rally the first week of October.

The alliance of 28 parties, committed to challenging the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also unveiled plans for a series of joint public rallies.

The decisions were taken at INDIA’s first coordination committee meeting held at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in Delhi on Wednesday.

Sources privy to the meeting told The New Indian that the alliance parties would collaborate closely to formulate an elaborate strategy for the impending Assembly polls. Additionally, discussions ensued regarding the ongoing Sanatan Dharma controversy, with an agreement emerging to adopt a unified stance on Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin’s letter.

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The alliance has scheduled joint rallies for the first week of October in Bhopal, focusing on issues such as caste census, unemployment, and inflation.

Notably, the meeting concluded with a decision to boycott certain news anchors seen as failing to highlight the concerns of the common populace and parroting lines set by the government. The coordination committee empowered a 19-member media sub-group to blacklist specific television news anchors.

Abhishek Banerjee, TMC national general secretary and a coordination committee member, was unable to attend due to his presence at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Kolkata.

The next INDIA group’s fourth meeting is slated to occur after the special session of parliament, concluding on September 22.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, following the nearly three-hour meeting, announced that the Bhopal rally would focus on “rising prices, unemployment, and the corruption of the BJP government.”

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The INDIA bloc’s formation earlier this year emerged from discussions among opposition parties in Patna and Bengaluru. Their unified goal is to contest the 2024 polls together and to dethrone Prime Minister Narendra Modi in next year’s general elections.