The opposition party coalition known as INDIA intends to have its first public meeting and seat-sharing negotiations in Bhopal in October.
Following a meeting of its coordination committee on Wednesday, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal announced that the INDIA bloc, which consists of more than two dozen opposition parties, will shortly undertake discussions over seat-sharing and hold its first public meeting in Bhopal in the first week of October.
“The coordination committee made the decision to begin the seat-sharing allocation procedure. According to a joint statement from the committee, it was decided that the member parties will hold the discussions and make a decision as soon as possible.
“The first public meeting will be held in Bhopal in the first week of October to discuss the issues of rising prices, unemployment, and corruption of the BJP government,” it was further stated.
State-level committees will be established to undertake conversations with INDIA parties in that state over seat distribution.
At a conference convened at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar’s Delhi home, the twelve member parties present decided to discuss the caste census. The panel also gave the media subcommittee permission to choose which television news hosts’ shows no INDIA parties will send representatives to.
“At the public meeting (to be held in Bhopal), all alliance parties will take part and discuss concerns related to inflation, unemployment, and corruption. Concerning the caste census, there was also agreement. The list of TV hosts on whose shows the leaders of our alliance parties will not appear has also been authorised by our media committee, according to AAP leader Raghav Chadha.
Omar Abdullah, the leader of the National Conference, suggested during the meeting to concentrate on the seats held by NDA parties rather than address the seats now held by alliance members.
“One of the things I had suggested is that the seats that are already held by members of the INDIA block should not be open for discussion, and we should be discussing the seats held by the BJP, NDA, or parties that are not part of either of those alliances,” the politician said.
At its third meeting in Mumbai, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) announced the creation of a 14-person coordinating committee.
The 14-member committee includes KC Venugopal (Congress), Sharad Pawar (NCP), TR Baalu (DMK), Hemant Soren (JMM), Sanjay Raut (SS), Tejasvi Yadav (RJD), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), Raghav Chaddha (AAP), Javed Ali Khan (SP), Lallan Singh (JD(U)), D Raja (CPI), Omar Abdullah (NC), Mehbooba Mufti (PDP).
Abhishek Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress, couldn’t attend the meeting, according to Venugopal, since he had been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate.
BJP refers the event as a “anti-Hindu meet”
On Wednesday, the BJP continued to put pressure on the opposition on a number of topics, including comments made about the Sanatan Dharma, by denouncing the INDIA bloc gathering as an assembly of a “anti-Hindu coordination committee” and citing corruption cases against their leaders.
