Page 3 - United Opposition

Congress to focus on just 255 seats in Lok Sabha elections, says report

2024 general elections: The Congress leadership stated that seat-sharing negotiations with INDIA partners would commence soon

Year in review: How India's political landscape transformed in 2023

With the end of another year, we take a look at the biggest headlines and stories from Indian politics that defined 2023

Will talk with party heads in states where alliances can be formed: Baghel

Congress formed the five-member NAC earlier this week, with Wasnik as convenor and leaders including ex-Raj CM Gehlot, Baghel, former Union minister Salman Khurshid, and Mohan Prakash as members

INDIA bloc to hold protest march today over suspension of MPs from Parl

A total of 143 Opposition MPs have been suspended from both the Houses of Parliament over the past week

Mamata, Kejriwal suggest Cong chief Kharge as INDIA bloc's PM face

Cong chief rejects suggestion, says bloc should win first

INDIA bloc should have 'charioteer' to steer it in LS polls: Shiv Sena

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday advised the Congress to take all allies together if it wants to strengthen the opposition INDIA bloc and pitched for appointing a "sarthi" (charioteer) to steer the alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. An editorial in the Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' also suggested the Congress, which is celebrating completion of its 138 years, to resolve to win minimum 150 seats (on its own) in the general elections due next year. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT), which is a constituent of the INDIA bloc, underlined that the results of the recent assembly polls in three states - Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh - do not indicate ultimate win for the BJP. The opposition INDIA bloc will hold a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday to deliberate on a blueprint for a joint campaign, seat sharing and redrawing the strategy for taking on the BJP in the 2024 general elections after the setback in the recent assembly polls. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool

INDIA bloc to hold key meet today after suspension of 78 MPs; 10 points

INDIA bloc meet: A day ahead of the Opposition meet, 78 Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to Opposition parties were suspended from both houses

INDIA bloc's PM to be decided after 2024 LS elections: Mamata Banerjee

"The BJP is not strong, we are weak. We need to work together to get stronger," Banerjee said

INDIA bloc to meet first time since Cong's recent poll defeats: Key agenda

The meeting of opposition INDIA bloc parties on Tuesday is likely to focus on seat-sharing in key states, with some leaders pushing for an agreement before December 31, and on redrawing the joint strategy to take on the BJP after the recent reverses in assembly polls. The key challenge before the leaders of various opposition parties who have come together to fight the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is also to come up with an alternative common programme as a counter to the ruling dispensation. Sources said a section of opposition leaders is of the view that the seat-sharing should be done before December 31 so as to help focus on evolving joint campaign strategy and present a common programme to the people. The immediate challenge before the INDIA bloc is also to build a consensus on having a convener, a spokesperson and a common secretariat, as it is a tricky issue due to differences among the constituents. The recent victory of the BJP in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh

Rajya Sabha proceedings adjourned till 2:30 pm in post-lunch session

Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2:30 pm on Thursday in the post-lunch session amid Opposition demand for a discussion on the Parliament security breach and protests over the suspension of TMC member Derek O'Brien. When the Upper House, which witnessed two adjournments earlier in the day, reassembled for the post-lunch session, Opposition members started sloganeering and demanded Union Home Minister Amit Shah to come to the House and give a statement on Wednesday's security breach in the Lok Sabha. Without naming O'Brien, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said his continued presence in the House despite the suspension was in disregard of the rules and asked him to leave. As the Opposition members continued raising slogans, Dhankhar adjourned the House till 2:30 pm.

INDIA bloc to meet on Dec 19 in Delhi, to work on 'Main Nahin, Hum' motto

Evolving a "core positive agenda", seat sharing and a programme to hold joint rallies are among the main challenges before the opposition INDIA bloc that will be taken up at its next meeting in the national capital on December 19. "The 4th meeting of the leaders of INDIA parties will be held on Tuesday December 19th, 2023 in New Delhi at 3 pm," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X on Sunday. The parties intend to move forward with the unity theme - "Main Nahin, Hum" (We, Not Me) - as a counter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the meeting, a senior leader of the Congress said. The meeting is being held in the backdrop of the Congress' poor show in the just concluded assembly elections, where it suffered humiliating defeats in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, while the BJP asserted that people have affirmed their faith in "Modi's guarantees" and will re-elect his government in 2024. The challenge before the opposition parties now is to come out wi

TMC urges swift seat sharing, manifesto finalisation for effective Oppn

Amidst signs of discord within the INDIA opposition bloc, TMC has underscored the importance of expeditious seat-sharing talks, establishing a collective narrative and finalising the manifesto to mount a credible challenge against the saffron camp. A meeting of the top leaders of the INDIA opposition bloc has been deferred to the third week of December after some of them expressed their inability to attend it due to their preoccupations. Another meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in Delhi on Wednesday with the floor leaders of the INDIA constituents in Parliament will, however, go ahead according to its schedule to formulate the opposition strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. According to the TMC, the momentum built by the INDIA bloc over three successful meetings has dwindled in the last few months due to inactivity, with the Congress preoccupied with elections in three states. TMC Lok Sabha party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay expressed concer

INDIA bloc meeting on Dec 17 to chalk out strategy for 2024 LS polls: Lalu

RJD president Lalu Prasad on Tuesday said that top leaders of the INDIA bloc will be meeting on December 17 to chalk out the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Prasad was posed with queries by journalists, in Buxar district of Bihar, about the meeting that was scheduled on Wednesday but was deferred due to the inability of several top leaders to attend. "The meeting has now been rescheduled to December 17," said Prasad, a staunch ally of the Congress and also known to be close to the Nehru-Gandhi family. Speculations have been rife that Prasad's ally Nitish Kumar, the CM of Bihar, was reluctant to attend the meeting on Wednesday. At a recent public meeting, Kumar had lashed out at the Congress for neglecting INDIA bloc during the recent assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. After the Congress' defeat in the crucial polls, many leaders of Kumar's JD(U) have gone on record saying that Congress made a mistake by failing to take on board regional parties

INDIA bloc leaders strategise for day 2 of winter session of Parliament

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Tuesday gave an Adjournment Motion Notice in the Lok Sabha and demanded a discussion on the death penalty for eight former Indian Navy personnel in Qatar

If there's proper seat sharing, BJP won't be able to retain power: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said if there is proper consensus on seat sharing among anti-BJP parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party will not be able to retain power at the Centre. On the BJP's win in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, she said there was nothing to rejoice for the saffron party as the vote margins were slim. Speaking at the West Bengal assembly, Banerjee said the BJP won more seats than the Congress in Rajasthan because of a split in votes among opponents. "It's not the people's defeat, it's the Congress' defeat. (They) lost for wrong policies. A party had sought six seats. If they were given at least three seats, this problem would not have happened. BJP won at least 70 seats for no seat-sharing there," Banerjee told the West Bengal assembly. The Trinamool Congress supremo further said, "I was just looking at the results. In the election, Congress got around 39 per cent of votes and they (BJ

Mamata Banerjee unlikely to attend INDIA bloc meet in Delhi on Dec 6

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she won't be able to attend the upcoming opposition INDIA bloc meeting scheduled in Delhi on December 6, citing prior engagements in North Bengal. Banerjee said she was unaware of the meeting date and indicated that had she been informed in advance, "she would have rescheduled her itinerary." Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc are set to convene at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi on December 6 to formulate a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as per sources on Sunday. "I will be visiting North Bengal from December 6- December 11. I was not aware of the meeting date on December 6. Had I known about the meeting date beforehand, then I could have rescheduled my visit," Banerjee told reporters outside Raj Bhawan. The participation of any other leader from the party at the meeting remains unclear at this point. Banerjee, accompanied by her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhish

INDIA bloc leaders to meet in Kharge's chamber for Winter Session strategy

With the Parliament's Winter Session set to begin on Monday, the leaders of various opposition parties of the INDIA bloc would meet in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge to chalk out their strategy in both the Houses. Sources said that the INDIA alliance partners' parliamentary leaders would meet on Monday morning in Kharge's chamber in the Parliament House. The opposition leaders have been holding meetings during the Parliament sessions to evolve a joint strategy in both the Houses to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. The Winter Session of Parliament is likely to start on a stormy note as the expulsion of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra is on the cards on the first day itself. This is the last full session ahead of next year's general elections and the BJP would like to clear all pending legislations during the Winter Session. Among the bills pending before the Parliament include the new bills to replace the IPC, Crim

Election results signal need for Oppn's INDIA bloc to redraw strategy

The Congress on Sunday suffered a near wipeout in the Hindi heartland as it lost 3-1 to the BJP in the assembly polls, signalling the need to redraw its strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the north. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties. However, its victory in Telangana gave a boost to its consolidation in southern India where it is in power on its own in Karnataka. Congress' loss in key states has also weakened the grand old party's position in the INDIA bloc where equations are set to change, as other opposition parties would challenge its position as the fulcrum of the alliance. While Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had lashed out at the Congress over refusal to share seats in Madhya Pradesh, more rumblings within the opposition bloc have begun after the

Won't be surprised if INDIA blames EVMs for polls outcome: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday said he would not be surprised if some people cry foul and put the blame on EVMs for the assembly polls outcome, as counting was underway in four states. The BJP was racing towards power in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and had a distinct edge in Chhattisgarh while the Congress was poised to oust the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana. Speaking to reporters, Pawar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's work was being appreciated by the people. "I will not be surprised if people from the INDIA alliance start blaming the EVMs (electronic voting machines) for the results," he said. It would be like crying foul, he added. When I was in government in the past, my opinion at the time was that tampering with EVMs was impossible. Just one person cannot tamper with the EVMs on such a large scale. You need many people to do it, and when a number of people get involved in such a practice, it would have ..

INDIA bloc to hold protests against BJD, BJP in Odisha's Rayagada, Balasore

The opposition bloc INDIA will hold demonstrations in Rayagada and Balaore next month to protest against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and the BJD dispensation in the state for "failing" to fulfil promises they had made for the people of Odisha, a Congress leader said on Saturday. A meeting of all anti-BJD and anti-BJP parties was held here on Friday evening to decide on protest rallies, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak said. "The Naveen Patnaik government in the state and the Centre have failed to deliver on promises they have made for the people of Odisha. Both the BJD and the BJP have made false promises. We are going to hold 'Janakrosh' rallies at Rayagada and Balasore on November 8 and 15 respectively, Pattanayak told PTI. The OPCC president also said the opposition bloc INDIA would hold demonstrations in other parts of the state in the coming days. He alleged that Odisha became "a poor state" under the BJD regime as the governmen