The third meeting of the INDIA bloc is going to be crucial as it will decide the direction of the "united Opposition alliance". Ahead of Friday's meeting, the BJP jibed at the Opposition, saying that the INDIA bloc did not have a common ideology and leader and the constituent leaders were just "lost souls" looking for a way to escape corruption investigation. BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the partners in INDIA should stop fighting among themselves before they challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Opposition leaders have already started arriving in Mumbai for the meeting. On Thursday, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray hosted a dinner on behalf of the MVA alliance in Maharashtra. The formal meeting will be held on Friday.
As the Opposition gears up for the third meeting in Mumbai, here's the probable agenda for the event:
- At least 62 leaders from 27 parties are expected to attend the meeting. The second meeting of the INDIA bloc in Bengaluru was attended by 26 parties.
- The coordination committee will be elected at this meeting. This panel will streamline the working of the alliance across India. The committee will decide the national agenda, common campaign issues, and common programme outlines.
- A logo of the group will also be unveiled at the third meeting of the Opposition. According to sources, the Trinamool Congress had a significant role to play in the design of the logo. Sources said the logo will reflect the nation's identity and diversity.
- The Opposition will also decide on a research department and Secretariat for election management.
- The Opposition will also decide on a media coordination team and a social media team to strategise and disseminate information ahead of the Lok Sabha election 2024. The INDIA bloc will also appoint 5-10 spokespersons for the Opposition alliance.
- The election of convener/coordinator is not on Friday's agenda. However, if some leaders raise the issue, the convener/coordinator may also be elected by the end of Friday.
Here's who will be attending the 'united' Opposition's meeting in Mumbai:
1) HOST : Shivsena UBT1 Uddhav Thackeray2 Aaditya Thackeray3 Sanjay Raut
2) Indian National Congress4 Sonia Gandhi5 Rahul Gandhi6 Mallikarjun Kharge7 K.C Venugopal
3) All India Trinamool Congress (TMC)8 Mamata Banerjee9 Derek O'Brien10 Abhishek Banerjee
4) Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)11 M.K Stalin12 T.R Baalu
5) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)13 Arvind Kejriwal14 Bhagwat Mann15 Sanjay Singh16 Raghav Chadha
6) Janata Dal (United)17 Nitish Kumar18 Lalan Singh19 Sanjay Kumar Jha
7) Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)20 Lalu Prasad Yadav21 Tejaswi Yadav22 Manoj Jha23 Sanjay Yadav
8) Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)24 Hemant Soren25 Abhishek Prasad26 Sunil Kumar Shrivastwa
9) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)27 Sharad Pawar28 Supriya Sule29 Jayant Patil
10) Samajwadi Party (SP)30 Akhilesh Yadav31 Ramgopal Yadav32 Kiranmoy Nanda33 Abu Azmi
11) Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)34 Jayant Singh Chaudhary35 Shahid Siddiqui
12) Apna Dal (Kamerwadi)36 Krishna Patel37 Pankaj Niranjan
13) Jammu And Kashmir National Conference (NC)38 Farooq Abdullah39 Omar Abdullah
14) People’s Democratic Party (PDP)40 Mehbooba Mufti41 Iltija Mufti
15) Communist Party Of India (Marxist)42 Sitaram Yechury43 Ashok Dhawale
16) Communist Party Of India (CPI)44 D.Raja45 Binoy Visvam46 Bhalchandra Kango
17) Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP)47 Manoj Bhattacharya
18) All India Forward Block48 G. Devarajan
19) Marumalarchi Dravia Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK)49 Vaiko MP
20) Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK)50 Thol. Thirumaavalavan51 M.Dayalan52 Dr. D. Ravikumar
21) Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK)53 Eswaran Ramasamy
22) Communist Party Of India (Marxist – Leninist) Liberation54 Dipankar Bhattacharaya55 V. Arun Kumar
23) Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK)56 M.H.Jawahirullah
24) Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)57 Kader Mohideen58 P.K Kunhalikutty59 Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal
25) Kerala Congress (M)60 Jose K Mani
26) Kerala Congress - J61 P.C. Thomas
27) Peasants and Workers Party Of India62 Jayant Patil