How Opposition sealed the name deal

Back-and-forth WhatsApp messages and mobile calls between interlocutors of Congress and Trinamool Congress on Monday night appeared to have set the stage for the Opposition adopting I.N.D.I.A as the grouping’s name.

Some parties had reservations about the coinage, while others felt it was not apt for a political alliance, one among them being Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

However, Rahul Gandhi’s strong advocacy for I.N.D.I.A after Mamata Banerjee presented it in the meeting of 26 parties here sealed the deal. Sources said Rahul made a passionate defence of the name, saying how could Modi oppose India and “those opposing NDA are with I.N.D.I.A.”

This was not before several names like Progressive People of India, Progressive People’s Front, Indian People’s Front, Progressive People’s Alliance and People’s Alliance for India, among others, were suggested and binned.

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The run-up to the finalisation of the name started with Rahul asking his interlocutors to reach out to Mamata with his two-three suggestions, including I.N.D.I.A. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal first reached out to Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien with Rahul’s message, which was shared with Mamata.

Both the top leaders were inclined to I.N.D.I.A, but there were disagreements over whether it should be ‘national’ or ‘new’ and ‘democratic or developmental’. Late in the night, both the leaders agreed on ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’. The leaders took extra care to ensure that the new name did not sound like the rival NDA.

The next step was to present it in the meeting attended by 26 parties, and Mamata was requested to present the idea, as Rahul did not want to project it as a Congress idea. Soon after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called Mamata to speak after his initial remarks, the chief minister was eloquent about the need for a name and suggested it.

While several leaders reacted positively to the proposal, Nitish appeared unimpressed and asked how it can be the name of a political alliance and whether it was proper to use such an acronym.

After a brief consultation with other Left leaders present in the meeting, CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury suggested they could use ‘We for India’ or ‘V 4 India’ where ‘V’ stood for victory. The reasoning was that it could appeal to the youth and millennials, but some felt that it was more of a slogan than the name for an alliance.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was not impressed by the prolonged discussion on the name and asked why they were not talking about much pressing issues like seat sharing, apparently concerned over the prospects in Delhi and Punjab.

During his intervention, sources suggested that Rahul sent a signal to AAP, saying all of them were fighting an ideological battle and to win it, the Congress was willing to be accommodative.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren asked why the alliance be named UPA or UPA-3 but that too did not find favour with people, saying the existing UPA has changed a lot. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti surprised even Congress leaders when she suggested ‘Bharat Jodo Alliance’, saying Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra had a spectacular run.

In between, sources said, Pawar suggested to Sonia that the name could be People’s Alliance for India but the former Congress chief said she was not involved in the decision making.

Sources said Sonia exhorted leaders that they have a job to do and they have to remain united.