First meeting of INDIA coordination committee to be held on September 13 in Delhi

The agenda on the table is to fix deadlines for the immediate tasks, seat sharing, presenting vision document/common manifesto and finalising the dates for joint campaign rallies

Opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Nitish Kumar and others during a press conference after the bloc leaders meeting, in Mumbai on September 1. | Photo Credit: ANI

The first meeting of the 14-member coordination committee of Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will be held on September 13 at Sharad Pawar’s residence in Delhi.

The primary agenda on the table is to fix deadlines for the immediate tasks, seat sharing, presenting vision document/common manifesto and finalising the dates for joint campaign rallies.

Though, the bloc has deliberately not appointed any one as the convener or chairperson of the alliance, Mr. Pawar who has had the longest political experience, will work as a defacto chair of the committee.

The seat sharing talks will be the first obvious point of conflict. “Obviously there will be differences, but there are only half a dozen States which need to have seat sharing arrangement—Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal and Delhi. Out of this Bihar, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu already have a framework in place,” a senior Opposition leader said. There is a clear understanding among the constituents that the talks must start at the State level.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee had urged at the September 1 meeting, that the vision document/common manifesto should be unveiled by October 2 at Rajghat. There was no objection to the proposal, but the final modalities will be worked out by the committee.

Meanwhile, the first meeting of the campaign committee was held here on Tuesday.