 "iNDIA")
The INDIA bloc of 28 political parties on Friday resolved to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together “as far as possible” and conclude their seat arrangements in states at the earliest, possibly by September 30, in a spirit of “give-and-take”, an admission of the inherent state-specific contradictions among its constituents.
At the third meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA, which concluded in Mumbai, Opposition leaders identified inflation, the “crony capitalism of the Narendra Modi government”, its “anti-poor, pro-big business policies”, and China “occupying India's territory” as its principal planks with which the coalition will approach the people to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
It “resolved to organise public rallies at the earliest in different parts of the country on issues of public concern and importance”. The first public meeting could take place in Delhi, sources said, and either Hyderabad or Bhopal, capitals of poll-bound Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, respectively, could be the venue of the next meeting of the bloc’s top leaders.
At the press conference after the meeting, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar cautioned his colleagues to be prepared for the government advancing the Lok Sabha elections. The Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), and Aam Aadmi Party insisted that seat-sharing talks should be concluded at the earliest. When some parties insisted on a resolution on their demand for a caste census, others suggested it should be included in the group’s vision document.
The bloc constituted a 14-member “coordination and election strategy committee” as its top decision-making body. It also put in place a 19-member “campaign committee”, three working groups for the bloc's social media engagement and media management, and an 11-member working group for research. These groups will coordinate communications, media strategies, and campaigns of constituents with the theme “Judega Bharat, Jeetega India” in different languages. The seat-sharing talks will take place among parties at the state level. Leaders said the contradictions, such as the Congress battling the Left parties in Kerala, or the Left and Congress alliance versus the Trinamool Congress, would remain.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in a post on X suggested the government's “one nation, one election” was a diversionary tactic, but the people will no longer be betrayed, and the countdown of this “autocratic government’s exit has begun”. Kharge said the strength of the Opposition alliance is making the government “nervous” and INDIA bloc partners should be prepared for “vendetta politics” as there will be more “misuse” of agencies against them.
Kharge alleged the BJP-led government was stealing from the poor to help big industrialists, and the “INDIA grouping must win to stop this loot,” he said. In his remarks, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi slammed the government over fresh allegations against the Adani group. He also claimed China had “taken India’s land in Ladakh”. Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Uddhav Thackeray said INDIA parties wouldn't allow “mitra parivarvad,” or crony capitalism.
Kharge alleged the BJP-led government was stealing from the poor to help big industrialists, and the “INDIA grouping must win to stop this loot,” he said. In his remarks, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi slammed the government over fresh allegations against the Adani group. He also claimed China had “taken India’s land in Ladakh”. Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Uddhav Thackeray said INDIA parties wouldn't allow “mitra parivarvad,” or crony capitalism.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, who heads the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), urged allies to hammer out a common minimum programme, which would be the face of the alliance. Opposition alliance leaders also passed a resolution hailing Isro's successful Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Gandhi said that the alliance will put together a clear set of ideas that will once again involve the poor people, the farmers, and the workers in the progress of this country.
