INDIA Alliance's First Meeting: Focus On Seat Sharing And Joint Campaign Plan

The coordination and election strategy committee of the INDIA alliance, established during the Opposition bloc's recent gathering in Mumbai, is scheduled to convene for the first time on Wednesday at the residence of Sharad Pawar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), in New Delhi. The main issue at hand is the allocation of electoral seats, which remains a significant challenge. Preliminary discussions on the process for seat sharing are expected to take place during this meeting, along with the consideration of a joint campaign plan.

Abhishek Banerjee, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) Member of Parliament, who has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning on Wednesday, is likely to skip the meeting. The TMC has opted not to send any representative to the gathering either. The ED is currently investigating alleged financial irregularities in the appointment of school staff in government schools in West Bengal, as well as a cattle smuggling case and an alleged coal pilferage scam.

The TMC hopes that the leaders of the INDIA alliance will take note of Abhishek's absence and publicly condemn the summons issued to him, reiterating the joint statement made in Bengaluru, where they criticized the "blatant misuse of government agencies by the BJP government against political opponents" as a threat to democracy.

While the coordination committee will discuss the proposed joint rally plan by the alliance's campaign committee, leaders from various parties, including the TMC, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party (SP), and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), emphasize that seat sharing is the most critical issue that needs urgent resolution before campaign strategies can be solidified.

One senior Opposition leader stated, "We are discussing campaigns, social media, and media strategy and all. All that comes once the product is ready. For that, seat sharing has to be completed quickly."

The meeting at Sharad Pawar's residence is expected to be attended by leaders from various parties, including Congress, DMK, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Shiv Sena, RJD, AAP, SP, JD-U, CPI, National Conference, and Peoples Democratic Party.

Regarding the joint campaign plan, there is a proposal to organize at least five rallies across the country, starting with rallies in Chennai, Guwahati, Delhi, Patna, and Nagpur. The idea is to focus on a specific issue at each rally, such as caste census and social justice in Patna, attacks on the federal structure in Chennai, the situation in the Northeast in Guwahati, secularism and polarization in Nagpur, and economic management, joblessness, and price rise in Delhi.

The meeting takes place amid controversy sparked by DMK leader Udayanidhi Stalin's comments related to Sanatan Dharma. Many Opposition parties are concerned that Udhayanidhi's remarks have provided ammunition to the BJP to portray the alliance as anti-Hindu. Some parties may express their views on this matter during the meeting. The Congress and TMC have already distanced themselves from Stalin's comments, with TMC leader Mamata Banerjee expressing disapproval and highlighting the diversity of the alliance's member parties.