INDIA bloc: First day meeting ends with informal discussions on alliance strategies, seat sharing

Mumbai, Sep 1 (IANS) The third two-day meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc on Thursday ended after discussing several issues related to the alliance strategies for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, and charting out a concrete roadmap for cooperation among the partners and seat sharing in the states, sources said.

The informal meeting on day one was attended by several leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader M.K. Stalin, NC leader Omar Abdullah, Shiv Sena-UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray, NCP leader Supriya Sule and leaders from several other parties.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav along with his son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary and others too were also in attendance.

During the meeting on Thursday evening, several issues were discussed including seat sharing, sources said.

The source said that INDIA bloc leaders met informally and are understood to have discussed on fixing the agenda of the formal meeting on Friday when key decisions about the alliance's future strategy would be taken.

The source said that a consensus is being built by the INDIA leaders to finalise the seat sharing strategy as soon as possible, so that the opposition parties can decide to field a joint candidate to take on the BJP.

Leaving the meeting, Kejriwal, asked if the issue of seat sharing in Delhi and Punjab was raised, said: "Seat sharing will happen across the country and we have said that such a thing (seat sharing) should happen everywhere."

However, several other senior leaders remained tight-lipped on the development.

After the informal discussion, the INDIA leaders also attended the dinner hosted by Thackeray.

On Friday, a new logo for the INDIA alliance is also likely to be launched while discission on a convenor and sub committee will also be taken up.

A total of 28 parties are participating in the meeting of the newly formed opposition alliance. The like minded parties have come together to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and to stop it from winning a third consecutive term at the Centre in the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The first meeting of the joint Opposition took place in Patna on June 23, and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18.

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