A day after a record 78 MPs were suspended from both Houses of Parliament, the Opposition
INDIA bloc will hold a crucial meeting in the national capital on Tuesday after over three months. The meeting will be held at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi at around 3 pm, PTI reported.
This will be the fourth meeting of the
INDIA bloc. The first meeting of the Opposition alliance was held in Patna on June 23, followed by a meeting in Bengaluru on July 17-18 and between August 31 and September 1 in Mumbai.
After facing a major setback in the recently concluded Assembly elections in five states, the Opposition alliance is expected to chalk out a blueprint for a joint campaign, seat sharing, and redrawing the strategy to contest against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to The Indian Express, the regional parties are expected to put forth their seat-sharing demand at the earliest to start selecting probable candidates and planning campaigns, including joint political rallies.
The Opposition alliance, which faces an immediate challenge of building consensus on choosing a convener, is also expected to deliberate on the caste census in Tuesday's meeting, the report said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had secured an emphatic victory over Congress in the recently concluded Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
In the INDIA bloc meeting, the regional parties are expected to submit their suggestions to redraw the joint strategy to take on the BJP. They expect the grand old party to table the main agenda of the meeting. Congress-led Opposition alliance also faces the challenge of evolving a "core positive agenda," reports said.
A senior Congress leader noted that the members of the
INDIA bloc intend to move forward with the theme "Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)" at Tuesday's meeting, PTI reported.
On Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee said the prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition alliance will only be decided after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Expressing confidence in the alliance, Banerjee dismissed suggestions that it has lost time in putting things in order.
“The BJP is not strong, we are weak. We need to work together to overcome it,” PTI quoted Banerjee as saying.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday informed that committees of the INDIA bloc, which were formed earlier, are working behind the scenes and preparing for the polls next year.
“Wherever there are regional parties, the BJP is nowhere to be seen. Most of the regional parties are in the INDIA bloc,” Tejashwi Yadav said.
On Monday evening, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray arrived in the national capital to take part in the meeting.
When asked about Nitish Kumar's role in the INDIA bloc, Tejashwi Yadav said everybody's role and objective in the INDIA bloc is the same, which is to oust the BJP from power.
The main task facing the leaders of the various Opposition parties is to develop an alternative common programme to counter the BJP-led government in the Centre. Further, the alliance has to build a consensus on a common secretariat, a convener, and a spokesperson.
In Tuesday's meeting, Samajwadi Party and the DMK are expected to finalise their seat-sharing with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, PTI quoted sources as saying.
According to reports, Congress' position has weakened in the alliance after a near wipeout in the Hindi heartland. The dynamics inside the INDIA bloc are expected to shift as other Opposition parties aim to unseat the grand old party from the top position in the alliance.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
