I.N.D.I.A or the ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’ of 26 non-BJP will reach Mumbai for their third national-level meeting on Friday. This will align with a parallel meeting to be held by Maharashtra’s ruling National Democratic Alliance or NDA, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre.
This will be the second time the two groups will be holding their respective meetings on the same date, as last month the BJP-led NDA huddled in New Delhi ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The NDA meeting in Mumbai will welcome the newly inducted deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and his NCP faction. NCP MP Sunil Tatkare, who represents the Ajit Pawar faction, said, “In the meeting, all our state government alliance partners BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and NCP (Ajit Pawar) will participate.”
Tatkare rejected any connection between the high-profile NDA meeting and the date chosen for the I.N.D.I.A meeting. He said, “Our meeting was planned a long back before the last state assembly Monsoon session by our coordination committee. So there’s no point in saying that we are doing this as opposition parties are also having a meeting on the same day.”
I.N.D.I.A bloc likely to expand
The I.N.D.IA bloc may unveil their official common logo in the upcoming meet. The meeting is also likely to discuss seat-sharing in the states for elections. Additionally, in a boost to the alliance, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also hinted at its possible expansion with some more regional parties joining the project.
Meanwhile, on the decision to choose a PM face, Congress Leader PL Punia said that the names for the post will be decided after the alliance’s victory.
Non-BJP leaders, including Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, his counterparts from various states including Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, and others including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Sharad Pawar, are expected to be a part of the event.
The Opposition grouping aimed at taking down the Narendra Modi-led government in the 2024 elections began their series of meetings in June to chart a roadmap for their undertaking and strengthen the newly forged unity even as sharp differences persist among themselves.
