INDIA Mumbai Meet highlights: ‘Next Oppn meeting in Delhi,’ says NCP's Supriya Sule

Bihar CM and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar & Bihar Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha arrive at the venue of the meeting of the INDIA alliance, in Mumbai.

Mumbai: Ahead of the INDIA meeting, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee says, "We are fighting for the best of India."

Unveiling of the INDIA coalition logo has been cancelled for today. Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut confirmed the development. He said, "Logo is a very important part of the alliance. It is going to be discussed in our meeting but will not be unveiled today."

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury claimed that people's response to INDIA has "unnerved" the prime minister and the BJP. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and Congress has formed several committees to plan various aspects of the meeting of the opposition bloc. This is the first meeting of the INDIA alliance in a state where none of the bloc members are in power. After the meeting, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit Tilak Bhavan, the party's state unit headquarters here, to meet leaders and workers, party sources said.

Congress leader Rashid Alvi on the special session of Parliament and speculation of the agenda of the session says, "There is a suspense (on the agenda of the session)...If you want to call a special session, you should first take the opposition in confidence. This is a dictatorship."

On the special session of Parliament and speculation of the agenda of the session, CPI General Secretary D Raja says, "There are many speculations. The government has called a special session of the Parliament. What are the issues? What is going to be the agenda? Nobody knows. But there are speculations. But we will face those speculations. Because ever since BJP came to power, Parliament is becoming increasingly redundant... One thing is very clear, BJP and PM Modi are desperate and they are not confident of facing the elections. After seeing the India alliance they are scared..."

An informal meeting of the opposition bloc INDIA was held in Maharashtra's Mumbai on Thursday and most of the leaders present in the informal meeting expressed apprehension that the government may call early elections for the Lok Sabha, said sources.

According to sources, discussions were held in the informal meeting regarding issues that should be put before everyone in the INDIA alliance conference on Friday.

As per sources, the leaders present in the meeting said that even if elections are held soon, the alliance memmbers should still be prepared.

In Friday's meeting, the discussion on the issue of one country, one election is likely to be on the agenda of INDIA alliance conference, said sources.

The meeting of the INDIA alliance is also likely to discuss the reason for calling a five-day special session by the BJP government, and formulate a joint opinion on key issues like the Uniform Civil Code, Jammu Kashmir elections and mid-term polls.

Unveiling of the INDIA bloc's logo, charting out a roadmap and evolving a structure for cooperation among the alliance partners to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be on the agenda of the third meeting of the opposition parties to be held in Mumbai on Friday. The third meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) alliance is scheduled to start at 10.30 am at Grand Hyatt Hotel here. As many as 63 representatives from 28 political parties are taking part in the meeting. During the conclave, discussion on formulating a common minimum programme and forming a coordination committee of the principal opposition parties is also likely. Ahead of the meeting, the opposition bloc's logo is expected to be unveiled, while after the deliberations get over, a press conference will be held in the afternoon to give information about what decisions were taken during the conclave.

Top leaders of the Opposition bloc INDIA are expected to give shape to their poll plans for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on Friday as they gear up to take on the NDA amid expectations of an early election.

The leaders, who have gathered here from across the country, will deliberate on their strategy and move forward on specific issues like setting up a coordination committee and form sub groups to work on their common agenda, media strategy, joint actions and programmes.

During informal talks over dinner on Thursday night, the leaders stressed on the urgency to finalise seat sharing and come out with a joint agenda in a few weeks' time.

The government has constituted a committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind to explore the possibility of "one nation, one election", sources said on Friday.

The move comes a day after the government called a special session of Parliament between September 18 and 22, the agenda for which is under wraps.

Over the years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed strongly for the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, and the decision to task Kovind to look into it underscores the government's seriousness as a host of elections approach.

When asked about the meeting of INDIA alliance in Mumbai, Uddhav Thackeray faction leader Aaditya Thackeray says "Bohot acchi rahi" (31.08)

Top leaders of the Opposition's INDIA alliance held talks in an informal setting here on Thursday evening to chart out a concrete roadmap and evolve a structure for cooperation among the alliance partners to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) met informally and were understood to have deliberated on fixing agenda of the formal meeting on Friday when key decisions about the alliance's future strategy would be taken.

"The meeting was good. You will know the details tomorrow," Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray told reporters.

Thackeray hosted dinner for the INDIA leaders after the meeting. The run-up to the meeting saw the Adani issue take centre stage with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi holding a press conference on the premises of Grand Hyatt hotel in suburban Santacruz where the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) leaders had gathered.

Opposition bloc INDIA on Thursday decided to get into poll mode and speed up its plans to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with some leaders stressing on the urgency to finalise seat sharing and come out with a joint agenda in a few weeks' time.

Top opposition leaders, who met here for a few hours in an informal setting on the first day of the third round of talks of their alliance, emphasised that they must get their act together at the earliest and vowed to finalise a coordination committee along with four sub-groups to chalk out their election plans.

Sources said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told the leaders to give one name from their respective parties for being part of the coordination committee.

The BJP on Thursday dubbed the third meeting of the INDIA opposition bloc as a "desperate attempt" for survival and asserted that there is no vacancy for the PM's post in 2024.

The remarks drew sharp reactions from the TMC, an important ally of the opposition bloc, which said the comments reflect the "panic that has set in the opposition camp."

The third meeting of INDIA began in Mumbai on Thursday to discuss its strategy to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections due next year and inclusion of new allies.

A two-day meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is being held in the financial capital of the country.

Senior BJP leader and MP Dilip Ghosh said the opposition bloc of parties with divergent views and interests reflect their desperate attempt to protect their identities.

Chhattisgarh Congress in-charge Kumari Selja praised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the PM is busy with events while people have united with Rahul Gandhi.

“On September 2 Rahul Gandhi is coming and everyone, particularly youths are enthusiastic about it. After Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, there is a massive change and people united with him. PM is busy with his events and as the elections are approaching, they are distributing 50,000 appointment letters, while the promise was to give two crore jobs every year. Youths have understood that there is no future with the BJP,” Kumari Selja said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Agnimitra Paul on Thursday took a jibe at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's "khela hoga" (game on) taunt saying the latter practices "khoon ka khela" in her state.

"She practices Khoon ka khela in West Bengal. There is blood in her hands. She practised Khela in the Panchayat elections, in 2021 (West Bengal assembly elections). Every day 'khela' is going on in the state. Is she not yet satisfied," she told news agency ANI.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly told the opposition gathering that the alliance must come out with its manifesto as early as October 2, while her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal called for finalising seat sharing among parties for the Lok Sabha elections by the end of next month. 

According to several opposition leaders, finalisation the poll plans for 2024 is necessary considering that there could be early elections, while stressing that there was no time left with them and mere meetings would not help.

At Thursday's informal meeting, it was also decided that a coordination committee will be formed after discussions, along with at least four sub-groups which include one to plan the joint programme of the alliance, another on preparing the action plan and managing social media, and one on research and data analysis to take on the ruling National Democratic Alliance or NDA, news agency PTI reported. Besides, a sub-committees would also be set up for chalking out joint campaigns and rallies.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said his party demanded that seat-sharing across the country be discussed at the meeting of the Opposition's INDIA alliance here. When asked what transpired at the informal meeting of the alliance leaders in the evening, the Delhi chief minister said his party sought seat-sharing discussions for all the states.

The I.N.D.I.A. block is likely to unveil its logo around 10.30am on Friday, even though reports indicated that there were no discussions on it on Thursday. The opposition leaders discussed the agenda of Friday's meeting which would begin at 11am, after which they would issue a joint statement and address a press conference jointly.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant on Thursday slammed the Central government for calling a five-sitting long Special Session of Parliament next month, saying that the Ganpati festival will be celebrated during that period and that in the history, no session has taken place during a festival.

"In the history of the parliament, no session has taken place during a festival. During the days the Ganpati festival is celebrated, they have kept the sessions. This is their Hindutva," Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant said while speaking to reporters here at the venue of the INDIA bloc's third joint meeting.

The Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday calling him “childish” over the latter's tirade against industrialist Gautam Adani and his conglomerate, and linking them to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP said Gandhi should explain why the Congress-led government in office before 2014 at the Centre had given land parcels to the Adani group. In a long post on X (formerly Twitter), the state BJP said, “Rahul Gandhi who has a childish brain should tell why the Congress government before 2014 had given key land parcels to the Adani group. The earlier Congress government had given several awards to the Adani group, it should be communicated to the people.” “Why did (NCP founder) Sharad Pawar oppose the Congress demand for JPC (probe in Adani group affairs) which was based on Hindenberg report?