By Our Correspondent
MUMBAI – The Opposition INDIA coalition took a step forward in its fight against the hate agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies at its third meeting in Mumbai on September 1, where more than 60 leaders of 28 parties resolved to initiate talks on seat-sharing arrangements for contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections together. Though no specific deadline was set for this, a consensus emerged in favour of working in a collaborative spirit.
The leaders of non-BJP parties from across the country have joined hands to form the coalition named as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to challenge the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The grouping had held its first meeting in Bihar’s Patna in June this year, while the second conclave in Karnakata’s Bengaluru in July resulted in the announcement of its name, INDIA.
The third two-day meeting in Mumbai’s Grand Hyatt Hotel on August 31 and September 1 witnessed some historic developments in terms of the Opposition parties, many of which are pitted against each other in several states, coming under a single umbrella with the theme, ‘Judega Bharat, Jitega India’ (India will unite and India will win). In a resolution, INDIA’s constituent parties announced that huge public rallies would be organized at the earliest in different parts of the country on the issues of public concern and importance.
The Opposition parties set the ball rolling by announcing the names of two committees – a 14-member coordination and election strategy committee and a 19-member campaign committee – along with three working groups for social media, media and research. During the informal dinner meeting on August 31, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told the leaders that the manifesto of INDIA parties should be out by October 2, marking the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The leaders accepted the political reality of seat-sharing not being possible in the states like Kerala, where the Congress and the Left are in a direct fight against each other. The resolution said the INDIA parties would contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections together “as far as possible”. While some parties demanded that a deadline be fixed for working out the formula, a consensus later emerged that such a deadline cannot be dictated at the central level.
A proposal was also made to organize five rallies in Patna, Nagpur, New Delhi, Chennai and Guwahati, omitting the states heading to Assembly elections later this year. As of now, there is no seat-sharing arrangement in place for the Assembly polls. Besides, the communications and media strategies and campaigns will be taken up with INDIA alliance’s central theme.
The coordination and election strategy committee will comprise Congress’s K.C. Venugopal; Sharad Pawar from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP); Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin; Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT); Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Tejaswi Yadav; Trinamool Congress’s Abhishek Banerjee; Raghav Chadhha from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP); Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Javed Ali Khan; Janata Dal (United) leader Lallan Singh; Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren (JMM); D. Raja from CPI; Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) leader Omar Abdullah; and Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti. The CPI-M will provide a name later.
There were suggestions that a separate resolution spelling out the Opposition’s agenda should be passed in view of the special session of the Parliament called by the government. This could include the need to have a Caste Census and reviving the Women’s Reservation Bill. JD(U) national president Lallan Singh forcefully spoke about the need for INDIA to enunciate its position on Caste Census, but Mamata Banerjee objected to it. She said various governments had already conducted Caste Census or were in the process of doing so, but West Bengal needed more time for it.
In his opening remarks, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge cautioned the INDIA parties to be prepared for more attacks in the coming months and “more raids and arrests” from the NDA government. He said that as the alliance gained more ground, the misuse of Central agencies would increase. This has already been witnessed in the states like Maharasthra, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
The Congress is likely to host the next meeting of the alliance in the election-bound states of Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, picking either Bhopal or Hyderabad as the venue. The Opposition leaders addressed a press conference at the end of the meeting, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he was confident that INDIA would defeat the BJP. “This stage represents 60% of India’s population. If the parties on this stage unite, it is impossible for BJP to win the election,” he said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said none of the constituents was fighting for any post. “INDIA is not just an alliance of 28 parties, it is a coalition of 140 crore Indians and more parties will join soon. INDIA will ensure Narendra Modi’s debacle,” he claimed. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar remarked that the alliance was vigilant of the possibility that the government could call for early general elections.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said those who gave power to the BJP were now unhappy. “The BJP started criticising us just after the news of the meeting of our alliance. It proves that after 10 years of being in power, the leaders do not have their feet grounded,” he said. Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said Modi was going ahead because the Opposition parties had not gathered together. The country suffered because the Opposition parties were not together earlier, he said.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the coalition would work out the seat arrangement at the state level and it will vary from state to state. “To save the character of Indian republic, to save the Constitution and particularly to uphold the guarantees irrespective of caste, creed and gender, we have to keep the BJP away from power. It is for that objective we have come together,” he said.
The launch of a logo for INDIA was put on hold for now. A suggestion was made that the INDIA constituents should get people’s views on the logo because the fight against the BJP was for the cause of the people. There were indications that the seat-sharing exercise will be finalised by the coordination committee by September-end.
