I.N.D.I.A to 'act fast' amid early poll indications

Amid speculation about early Lok Sabha elections, top I.N.D.I.A leaders will speed up sewing up their alliance with a "sense of urgency" by deciding on working groups, including coordination, planning, research and data analysis and holding public rallies, as well as appointing spokespersons when they meet on Friday for a day-long discussion here.

The agenda for the third I.N.D.I.A meeting was fixed at a dinner meeting hosted by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at the Grand Hyatt here, where most of the 63 leaders from 28 parties who will join the deliberations are staying, on Thursday.

The deliberations of the senior Opposition leaders came hours after an explosive media report on Adani Group and Narendra Modi government's announcement of a Special Parliament Session in the third week of September, which the Opposition described as a "panic reaction" to "manage headlines".

While leaders insisted that there was no discussion on appointing a Chairperson or Convenor for the group, sources indicated that some leaders may broach the subject once the formation of around half a dozen committees and working groups are finished.

The most prominent task before the leaders would be to finalise the Coordination Committee with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge making it clear that they would try to accommodate as many parties in the panel. The panel will also finalise national spokespersons, which would be around six, for the bloc to take forward the I.N.D.I.A narrative.

Committees on planning issues, research and data analysis and the public programme committee among others will be finalised at the meeting which is likely to come up with a joint resolution touching the socio-economic and political developments in the country. The public programme committee will be tasked to immediately identify cities to hold joint rallies.

Sources said the surprise announcement of a Special Session appeared to stump the leaders but most of them felt that the plan was to hold the Lok Sabha election earlier than scheduled. Senior leaders like Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal highlighted that they should be prepared to face early elections. ‘Act fast’ was the formula suggested by leaders like Mamata and Nitish.

Kejriwal argued in the meeting that they should finalise the seat-sharing arrangements by September 30 while West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee forcefully demanded that the Opposition bloc prepare their manifesto and release it on Gandhi Jayanti at Raj Ghat. There was no final decision on this but the public issues panel is likely to firm up the agenda for the bloc.

The issue of seat sharing was raised by Samajwadi Party's Ramgopal Yadav who said it is important in the context of Uttar Pradesh. He said that the BJP may not be a big force in the south but they need to move with alacrity in UP and clinch the seat-sharing deal, in a subtle message to Congress.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin referred to the need for a common programme while emphasising that the bloc should choose CAG reports against the Modi government as one of the campaign points.

A senior Opposition leader told DH that there was a "sense of urgency" among the leaders. He said seat sharing and similar exercises will progress only after committees are formed. Sources said the summoning of Parliament led to some "wild guesses", as the government was "unprecedented".