The leaders of 26 Opposition political parties from across India have joined hands to form the INDIA coalition — the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance — to take on the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP, in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
“This was a very important meeting to save democracy and the Constitution in the interest of the people of the country... With one voice, the leaders of all 26 parties supported the resolution adopted today,” said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, after presiding over the second conclave of Opposition parties in Bengaluru on Tuesday. “Our alliance will be called Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and this is a great achievement,” he added.
The alliance decided to constitute an 11-member coordination committee to evolve consensus positions on various issues faced by the country under NDA rule. The committee’s composition will be finalised at the next Opposition meeting to be held in Mumbai, for which the date will be announced soon, Mr. Kharge said. The INDIA coalition will also set up a common secretariat in New Delhi for campaign management, while separate committees will be formed for specific issues.
Heavyweight attendees
Seven Chief Ministers — Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Bhagwant Mann (Punjab), Hemant Soren (Jharkhand), Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), M.K. Stalin (Tamil Nadu), and Nitish Kumar (Bihar) — attended the day-long meeting.
A number of former Chief Ministers were also in attendance: Lalu Prasad Yadav (Bihar), Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir), and Akhilesh Yadav (Uttar Pradesh). Other prominent leaders who participated in the meeting included former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D. Raja, and CPI (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
The first Opposition meeting held in Patna on June 23 had the leaders of only 15 parties in attendance.
Blistering attack
Mr. Kharge launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, saying that Mr. Modi was now trying to bring together parties which had splintered, indicating that “he is afraid of Opposition parties.”
With regard to the meeting of 30 alliance partners convened by the NDA in Delhi on Tuesday, Mr. Kharge said, “I don’t know if 30 parties are there, whether they are registered parties with Election Commission of India. I have not heard so many parties...”
Speaking of the frictions within the Opposition alliance itself, he said, “There are some differences between us, but we have put that behind... We are together in the interest of the nation. We will fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly and succeed. Now our aim is to highlight the failures of the Narendra Modi-led government.”
