Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 1: After an informal meeting on Thursday, the partners of the India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) coalition on Friday held a formal meeting in Mumbai setting up a 14-member Coordination Committee and the resolve to fight the 2024 Parliamentary elections together amidst speculations of early polls.
The speculation became after the government on Thursday suddenly called for a five-day special session of Parliament from September 18 without declaring any agenda and on Friday set up a committee under the chairmanship of the former president of India Ramnath Kovind to explore the possibility of “one nation, one election” theory holding the Parliamentary and all state Assembly elections together.
About 63 representatives of 28 non-BJP parties who have joined hands under the INDIA banner, on Friday held crucial discussions to give structure to their cooperation and crystalise their plans about seat sharing and a common agenda to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Besides setting up the coordination committee, which will be the highest body of the united opposition front, the meeting also decided to immediately start talks among themselves to formulate the seat-sharing issues “in a spirit of give and take” which would be decided on state-to-state basis.
The INDIA, however, dropped the idea of a convenor of the coordination committee, did not adopt any political resolution following some objections by some participants over the inclusion of “caste census” in the text of the resolution and decided to finalise the INDIA logo only after seeking public opinion on the issue.
Eyebrows, however, have been raised over the use of the words “as far as possible” in its resolution to “fight the elections together” which caste doubts about concretising the unity move with less than a year to go for the elections even if it is held in time. The parties resolved to “coordinate respective communications and media strategies and campaigns with the theme Judega Bharat, Jiteega India” in different languages.
The resolution after INDIA’s third meetings (the first two were in Patna and Bengaluru respectively) also refers to seat-sharing arrangements, noting these will be “initiated immediately and concluded… in a collaborative spirit of give-and-take.” The INDIA had earlier claimed that the seat-sharing arrangements would be completed by September 30.
The 14-member co-ordination committee in which the CPM representative is yet to be named, included Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party, KC Venugopal (Congress), Tejashwi Yadav, (RJD), Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena (UBT), Lalan Singh, JD(U), Abhishek Banerjee, (TMC), Raghav Chadha, (AAP), Hemant Soren, (JMM), Mehbooba Mufti, (PDP), Omar Abdullah, (NC), TR Balu, (DMK), D Raja, CPI, and Javed Ali Khan, (SP). One member of the CPI(M) will be announced later, Sanjay Raut told the media.
Sources said four other committees are being planned, apart from the “coordination committee”, to help plan campaigns and rallies, handle social media and manage data. Sources also spoke of “action on the ground” on October 2 – Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary – in Delhi. The alliance also passed a resolution to contest the 2024 elections together and design coordinated strategies for campaigns.
The key decisions taken at the meeting included, Seat-sharing arrangements in different states to be initiated immediately and concluded at the earliest in a collaborative spirit of give-and-take, Organise public rallies at the earliest in different parts of the country on issues of public concern and importance, Coordinate respective communications and media strategies and campaigns with the theme ‘Judega Bharat, Jiteega India’ in different languages.
Earlier, during his opening remarks, Congress chief Mallikarjun kharge cautioned the bloc parties to be prepared for “more attacks in the coming months, more raids and arrests” from the government in the coming days.
The NCP chief Sharad Pawar said, “we are being criticised even for holding a meeting. In the last ten years, the government of the day, do not have their feet on the ground… And then they are the ones to call us “ghamandiya” (arrogant), the word the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had used for INDIA parties.
The Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “two very big steps were taken (today). The most important thing to understand is that this stage represents 60% of India’s population. If the parties on this stage unite, it is impossible for BJP to win the election. First step is to set up a coordination committee and also speed up seat sharing talks. These are two powerful steps to defeat the BJP.”
“The nexus between PM and a particular businessman is for everyone to see,” he said. “G20 is taking place, it is essential for our nation’s credibility that PM calls for an enquiry on the Adani group,” he added. “The idea behind PM Modi’s government is to extract money from the poor and transfer it to a limited few,” the former Congress president said.
“I am confident that INDIA will defeat the BJP,” Gandhi said. “The final thing I would say is the real work in the alliance is the relationship forged between the leaders. These three meetings have done a lot to build the relationship between us, I can see there is flexibility, of course there are differences but these are ironed out very comfortably,” he said.
Talking about China’s incursion, the Congress leader said, “I spent a week in Ladakh, I went to Pangong lake, right in front Chinese area. I had detailed discussion, probably the most detailed discussion that a politician outside of Ladakh has had. They categorically told me that Modi is lying about China not taking land. Clearly an accommodation happened between the government and the Chinese. Our shepherds told us that they are not allowed in the areas where they could go earlier.”
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, “two more parties have joined, more parties will join. At the State level we will work out the seat arrangement, 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,” Yechury said.
“When we met in Bangalore, they resurrected NDA, when we came here they slashed the LPG prices by ₹200 and now they announced a Special Session of the Parliament. One doesn’t know what gimmickry will follow. A series of public meetings will follow across the country,” he said.
RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav said, “all the Opposition parties were sitting apart and the country paid for it. Modi benefitted from this. I have been saying Bhajpa Bhagao Desh Bachao (Drive out BJP, save India).” “Now it is time for seat sharing arrangement. I assure you that too shall happen very smoothly. We will sacrifice if need be,” he said.
“Minority is not safe in this country, poverty is on the rise and there is uncontrolled inflation. “You may remember they came to power speaking lies… They said naming some of us that our money is in Swiss banks and that they will bring back the black money. They promised ₹15 lakh to each of us. Even I fell for it, we are 11 members in our family. Imagine, if each of us 11 were to get ₹15 lakh. That would have been a handsome amount,” the former Bihar CM said.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal said, “INDIA is not merely an alliance of 26-28 parties, it’s an alliance of 140 crore people. They have come together for constructing the Bharat of 21st century.” “Narendra Modi government is the most corrupt government, in the contemporary history of the country,” he said, adding, “the entire government is working for just one person.”
“I have never seen a more arrogant government and they believe they are bigger than God, which is the beginning of their end. Several forces will try to rip us. The next few days there will be news stories on internal feud. But let me tell you, I have attended all the three meetings which are held amidst a lot of bonhomie,” the Delhi CM said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M.K. Stalin said “during the first meet, all of the 19 parties came together to bring BJP down. With the second meeting at Bengaluru, we named it INDIA and started the journey. During the third meeting at Mumbai now, we are proving that it is a strong alliance.” He said, “You all are aware of how BJP functions. PM Modi, wherever he goes, whether it is a government related event or a party event, is unable to speak about the achievements of the last 9 years. The PM rather speaks about the INDIA alliance. He is acting as our ‘publication officer’. I thank him for that.”
“Opposition is getting stronger,” Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said, adding “there is nervousness in the Opposition camp since our unity is getting stronger.” “We will fight against corruption, dictatorship and we will ensure India wins,” the former Maharashtra CM said. He said the bloc aims to bring in “fearless” India.