Oppn bloc I.N.D.I.A to tie up loose ends at Mumbai meet

Top Opposition leaders from at least 26 I.N.D.I.A parties will meet here for two days from Thursday to take forward their unity pitch for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, choosing members for a coordination committee and other panels and possibly a chairperson and convenor as well as decide on a campaign strategy.

Top Opposition leaders from at least 26 I.N.D.I.A parties will meet in Mumbai for two days from Thursday to take forward their unity pitch for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, choosing members for a coordination committee and other panels and possibly a chairperson and convenor as well as decide on a campaign strategy.

The meeting – the third in three months – comes against the backdrop of uneasiness in the Opposition ranks over NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar not unequivocally clearing the air over his relationship with Ajit Pawar who split the party and ambitions of leaders like Nitish Kumar to assume a bigger role like convenorship, which could lead to intense negotiations.

Leaders – who earlier met in Patna in June and Bengaluru in July – are also expected to unveil the group’s logo and ‘BJP Chale Jao’ campaign, amid signs that more parties will join the meeting, increasing the number of the grouping from 26. Some allies and partners in Maharashtra, who were not part of the earlier meetings, are likely to attend.

The deliberations will start on Thursday evening with Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray hosting a dinner – a splash of Maharashtrian cuisine – for the leaders. The major portion of the discussions will happen on Friday when leaders sit together to thrash out loose ends in the grouping.

One of the keenly awaited announcements will be on the composition of the 11-member Coordination Committee, which will have representatives from 11 parties. It is to be seen how the left-out parties will be accommodated in other panels. The leaders are also likely to face trouble in finalising the location of the Secretariat, as competing interests may play spoilsport.

One of the panels will be on drafting a common programme and developing communication points for the parties while one on media will design I.N.D.I.A’s social media and other outreach programmes. There will be a campaign committee, which will decide on agitation and other campaign programmes.

While one section argues that the group’s Secretariat could be located in CPI(M)’s Harkishan Singh Surjeet Bhavan, parties like Trinamool Congress are unlikely to support such an idea. Those supporting the idea feel that the Left should not be isolated in the grouping, as it provides an ideological footing. Sources said the parties may finally agree on a neutral venue.

While Pawar, Thackeray and Congress’ Ashok Chavan and Nana Patole will address a joint press meeting on Wednesday, the onus will be on the NCP patriarch to clear the air on his party’s stand with regard to his nephew Ajit Pawar, who had joined the BJP government.

Pawar’s remarks – sometimes supporting his nephew – had created confusion in the alliance and he may have to do some explaining to the leaders on where he stands.

Convenorship will be another contentious point for the grouping, as Nitish is perceived to be unhappy about him not being anointed the Convenor in Bengaluru. His close aides have said that it was he who did the groundwork for the formation of the alliance while other leaders may not be willing to easily concede to Nitish.

If the question of a chairperson for the grouping comes up, a senior leader said that Sonia Gandhi could be the first choice followed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.