Posters, Hoardings Of INDIA Bloc Leaders Displayed In Mumbai Ahead Of 2-Day Huddle From Today: Watch

Posters and hoardings showing the leaders of INDIA alliance were put up in Mumbai.

INDIA Alliance Meeting: Ahead of the two-day meeting of the INDIA alliance starting today, posters and hoardings showing the leaders of the bloc were put up in Mumbai. The bloc comprises 26 Opposition parties that decided to present a united front to face the BJP juggernaut in next year’s general elections.

At this meeting, the bloc will decide on seat sharing, pick members of an 11-member coordination committee, and appoint a convener for the alliance to streamline its working across all states. The official logo of the alliance will also be unveiled during the mega-huddle.

The discussions and deliberations are expected to set the tone for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections when INDIA hopes to dislodge the BJP from power.

The partners in the Opposition bloc have arrived in the country’s commercial capital to attend the two-day INDIA National Opposition Conclave. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to be named as the convener of the INDIA alliance. His name is expected to be announced in the Mumbai meeting of the Opposition parties.

While the INDIA alliance is yet to decide on its prime ministerial face, workers of some opposition parties like AAP, JDU, and SP have pitched their leaders for the top post.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said that a few more political parties were likely to join the opposition INDIA bloc during its meeting in Mumbai. The JD(U) leader, however, did not reveal the names of the likely entrants. The INDIA bloc's first meeting was held in Patna in June, while the second one took place in Bengaluru in mid-July. The Bengaluru conclave had finalised the name of the bloc - Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

After, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati lashed out at the INDIA bloc calling it “anti-poor”, NCP veteran Sharad Pawar claimed that she was in talks with the BJP. Addressing a press conference a day ahead of the Opposition alliance’s third meeting in Mumbai, Pawar said, “It is not known on whose side she (Mayawati) is. Earlier, she has had dialogue with BJP.”

Earlier the BSP supremo took to X, formerly Twitter, and berated both the INDIA and NDA, calling them “anti-poor”, “communal”, “casteist and pro-rich”.

“NDA and India alliance are mostly parties with anti-poor casteist, communal, pro-Dhanna Seth and capitalist policies against whose policies BSP is continuously struggling and that is why the question of contesting elections in alliance with them does not arise,” Mayawati posted on X. “BSP, like in 2007, will single-handedly contest the upcoming Lok Sabha and four state assembly general elections by uniting crores of neglected society on the basis of mutual brotherhood rather than the manipulation of the opponents. Media should not spread misconceptions again and again,” she added. 

Echoing Pawar’s opinions, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi said he, too, thinks Mayawati is with the saffron party. “It seems that 'Behenji' (Mayawati) is with the BJP. It would be good if she joins (the INDIA alliance), but I doubt that,” PTI quoted Azmi as saying.