File photo of INDIA leaders meeting at the office of Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha) in Parliament House on August 11, 2023.
By G Krishna Mohan Rao*
Mumbai: The third meeting of the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) scheduled to be held in Mumbai between August 31 and September 1, 2023, is likely to elect a convenor. There are possibilities of the crucial post going either to Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar or the Congress Party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Sources said that besides the convenor for the alliance, there may be a super post of chairman as well and that the Congress Party is keen to promote the opposition INDIA alliance and all the top leaders of the Party. Besides the Congress president Kharge, former party presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will also be attending the meeting.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that 28 parties would attend the meeting. At a press conference, Pawar said that he was confident that an alternative alliance would be formed. In all, 63 Opposition leaders are likely to attend the meeting.
This is the third meeting of the INDIA, which has decided to unitedly fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The first meeting was held in Patna and was hosted by Nitish Kumar, while the second meeting was hosted by the Congress Party in Bengaluru.
Sources said that after its meeting in Patna and Bengaluru, the meeting in Mumbai tomorrow is being held with a sense of urgency as the “rumours” spread of early Lok Sabha polls in December this year. It was West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who on August 28, 2023, said that she was anticipating early polls. She claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had already engaged all helicopters and small planes for its campaign with a strategy that the Opposition could not get any helicopters to hire. Yesterday, Nitish Kumar also speculated an early Lok Sabha poll in December 2023.
The main agenda of the two-day meeting is yet to be announced, but sources said that primarily, the two-day meeting is expected to focus on the structure and content of the coalition including a coordination committee, with top leaders of the main parties. Further, there will be sub-committees would be formed on communication strategy, manifesto and common minimum programme of the INDIA alliance.
The Mumbai conclave would also focus on the broad contours of a Common Minimum Programme and also on holding joint political rallies in various States. Sources said that the unfinished agenda of the last meeting of the opposition parties in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, 2023, would also be looked into. Seat-sharing negotiations are unlikely to start in Mumbai tomorrow but broad contours of the adjustments may be looked into, sources said. A logo might also be unveiled for the INDIA alliance along with the national flag and Ashoka chakra.
Many political parties including small players are showing curiosity about the INDIA bandwagon and whether this helps the Congress Party perform well in the next round of Assembly elections in Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Some of the opposition leaders are even arguing that as and when the Lok Sabha polls are held they would be able to field one candidate on behalf of the Opposition against the BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in about 80 per cent of the parliamentary constituencies.
However, this looks not so easy in view of major irritants on several fronts within the Opposition. One major problem or conflict could be seen between Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab and Delhi and the Left-Trinamool Congress incompatibility in West Bengal. On the other side, Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati is still playing her cards close to her chest and holding consultations through the back door with mediators. It is said that Mayawati may open her talks only after the results of the next round of Assembly polls in five States later this year. Pawar hinted that Mayawati is in touch with the Opposition leaders.
The Congress Party is expected to play an active role in consolidating the Opposition unity. As the Opposition leaders started arriving in Mumbai, all the allies in Maharashtra —- the Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the NCP—are jointly working to make the conclave a grand success. The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, who has already arrived in Mumbai, told media persons that there should be no rush for allotment of seats. The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has also arrived in Mumbai. The two-day meeting is being held at the Hotel Grand Hyatt here.
*Senior journalist
