INDIA Bloc Discusses Seat-Sharing, Caste Census At Sharad Pawar's Residence; To Hold First Public Meeting In Bhopal

This was the first meeting of the 14-member coordination committee of the INDIA bloc of Opposition alliance. The alliance will now hold country-wide public meetings, starting with the first in October in Bhopal.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 13 September 2023 1:48 pm

Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal at press conference ahead of opposition meeting in Bengaluru

The INDIA bloc of Opposition alliance, in its first meeting of the coordination committee, decided to “start the process of seat sharing”, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal announced at the press briefing in Delhi. The committee has also decided to take up the issue of caste census, he announced.

"The first meeting of the coordination committee was held today at Sharad Pawar's residence and attended by 12 member parties. TMC's Abhishek Banerjee couldn't attend the meeting due to the summon by the Enforcement Directorate, arising out of the vendetta politics of the BJP. The coordination committee decided to start the process of determining the seat sharing," Venugopal told media persons, reading out the joint statement of the coordination committee.

He added that the member parties will hold talks and decide the process "at the earliest". “The committee has decided to hold joint public meetings in different parts of the country. The first public meeting will be held in Bhopal in the first week of October,” he said.

Venugopal also said that a sub-group on media, authorised by the coordination committee, will come up with names of anchors whose shows and debates the INDIA leaders would boycott.

Earlier today, members of the coordination committee of INDIA bloc met for their first meeting at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar's residence in Delhi to discuss the seat-sharing formula and other broad contours of their campaign strategy to go against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The meeting comes days after the bloc got energised by the victories in the seven bypolls held earlier this month. In bypolls held in six states, the INDIA bloc constituents won four out of seven seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) three.

In July, 28 Opposition parties came together to form a united alliance and called it the 'Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance' (INDIA) with the idea of converging all non-BJP voters to put up a united front against the BJP. The goal of the Opposition is to field joint candidates against the BJP to maximise chances of victories and minimise the break-up of non-BJP voters. The bloc was formally announced after the efforts of Opposition leaders like Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal who crisscrossed the country to hold a series of meetings with Opposition figures.