INDIA Bloc’s Meet Ends: First Joint Rally in Bhopal in October, Seat-sharing Talks to Begin Soon

The coordination committee of INDIA, the opposition bloc, on Wednesday, held its first meeting at NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in New Delhi. Eleven leaders of the 14-member coordination panel of the opposition were present at the meeting.

As per reports, a detailed seat-sharing formula and the roadmap to the 2024 Elections among other issues were some of the prime agendas of the meeting.  The bloc also reportedly held discussions on how to combat the government’s ‘witch hunt’ of Opposition leaders by ‘using probe agencies’ and agreed to take upon the issue of Caste Census as well.

The meeting was held at a time when the INDIA bloc is under a lot of heat from the BJP and other NDA parties over Udhayanidhi Stalin’s controversial remark on ‘Sanatan Dharma.’

“Everyone will work on one platform and against the injustice done against the people of the country. There is no question of seat sharing now. When leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar have united a bright future of democracy will emerge,” said Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta after the meeting.

Who All Attended the Meeting

CP chief Sharad Pawar, Congress’ K C Venugopal, CPI’s D Raja, SP’s Jawed Ali Khan, DMK’s T R Baalu, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, AAP MP Raghav Chadha, JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha, NC leader Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut were present at the meeting.

Who Failed to Attend The INDIA Coordination Meeting

Three members of the panel including JMM leader Hemant Soren, and TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee could not attend the meeting for different reasons. Banerjee, who was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate to appear before it on the same day, did not attend the meeting. The CPI-M has not yet nominated any member of the committee.

Seat-Sharing Negotiations

According to PTI, the leaders of several opposition parties have sought an early seat-sharing formula to be worked out to ensure that a joint PM opposition candidate is put up against BJP candidates in Lok Sabha seats.

“The Coordination Committee has decided to start the process for determining seat-sharing. It was decided that member parties would hold talks and decide at the earliest. The first public meeting of the alliance will be held in Bhopal in the first week of October,” said Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal.

However, several leaders said that the parties have to “shed their egos” and “vested interests” in arriving at such a formula.

While no decision has been taken on the criteria, it is likely to be based on the performance of parties on a particular seat in recent polls, PTI reported quoting sources. Discussions on finalising campaigns and rallies to be held in the coming days were also held.

Next INDIA Coordination Panel To Be Held in Bhopal

In the joint statement, the coordination committee of the opposition INDIA bloc stated that seat-sharing negotiations and talks will soon begin and several meetings will be scheduled in different parts of the country. The first such meeting will be held in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal.

Opposition Leaders React On Coordination Committee Meeting

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said that the issues of inflation and corruption were discussed by the opposition leaders during the meeting. “The issues of rising prices, corruption by BJP government & unemployment will be highlighted in Bhopal,” she said.

On seat-sharing negotiations, AAP MP Raghav Chadha said, “It has been decided that member parties will start the process for seat-sharing and take a decision on it soon; a joint public rally will be held in Bhopal. It was also decided that the issue of caste census will also be raised.”

On the other hand, National Conference Leader Omar Abdullah said that there should be no discussion on the seats that are already held by members of the INDIA bloc and discussion should be held on management of seats taken by the BJP, NDA or parties that are not part of either of those alliance.