New Delhi: The coordination committee of the Opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A decided to finalise in October the process for determining seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha elections. The decision was taken at the first meeting of the coordination panel of the opposition bloc at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar in New Delhi on Wednesday.
"It was decided that member parties would hold talks and decide at the earliest. The first public meeting of the alliance will be held in Bhopal in the first week of October," Congress leader KC Venugopal said while addressing the media.
According to a report by news agency PTI, eleven leaders of the 14-member committee of the Opposition were present in the meeting.
Speaking to ANI after the meeting, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said, "It has been decided that member parties will start the process for seat-sharing and take a decision on it soon; a joint public rally will be held in Bhopal. It was also decided that the issue of caste census will also be raised."
SP leader Javed Ali Khan and CPI leader D Raja, too, said seat sharing will be finalised at the earliest and a public meeting will be held in Bhopal, ANI reported.
According to reports, negotiations on the seat-sharing formulae for different states ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and a broad campaign strategy was high on agenda. Some of the opposition leaders had also said the panel would discuss the bloc’s strategy for the upcoming special parliamentary session.
The government has convened a five-day special parliamentary session from September 18-22.
The leaders present at the coordination panel meeting were NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Congress' KC Venugopal, CPI's D Raja, Samajwadi Party’s Jawed Ali Khan, DMK's TR Baalu, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha, JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha, NC leader Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.
Three members of the committee, including JMM leader Hemant Soren, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee could not attend the meeting.
Ahead of the meeting, Omar Abdullah had said the opposition leaders would discuss the formula of seat sharing for the Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to news agency PTI, he said, “We should begin discussions over seat sharing. The formula over seat sharing and how new members will be included in the group. I think there should a discussion over all these things.”
Meanwhile, slamming the Opposition bloc, Union Minister Anurag Thakur had said the members in the I.N.D.I.A alliance are known for their “corruption” and a change of name of their bloc won’t change their character, PTI reported.
Speaking to the media, Anurag Thakur said, “These faces (of I.N.D.I.A alliance) are all known for corruption. Some of them are on bail and some have returned after serving time in jail. People know them all, changing the opposition bloc’s name (to I.N.D.I.A) won’t change their character.”