'Maha-Gatbandhan' Mumbai Chapter - Crucial aspects of the Opposition Alliance to be discussed today

Ahead of Opposition Bloc INDIA's meeting on Friday, the political parties put their heads together and have decided to get into poll mode and run through 'well curated plans' to take down the BJP government in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at their informal meeting on Thursday. In addition, at the informal meeting, issues of seat sharing and formulation of a joint agenda were discussed.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance consisting of 28 political parties will unveil their logo today. Moreover, the alliance will likely announce a coordination committee consisting of 11 members from the principal Opposition parties.

The impetus for the meeting on Friday was laid down at the informal meeting on Thursday, where various nuances of the coordination committee were discussed at great length. As reported by PTI, the coordination committee will be formed after the meeting on Friday, and it will constitute of at least 4 sub-groups that will look into planning the joint program for the alliance, preparing the action plan, looking into the social media footprint of the alliance, and lastly researching and analysing requisite data. Another sub-committee looking into joint campaigns and rallies will also be formed.

Sources have told NTT that a panel of spokespersons will be created, who in turn will speak on behalf of the alliance. The appointment of a convener for the opposition alliance may be discussed during the Friday meet.

On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held a press conference before the informal meeting where he read out the media reports linking PM Narendra Modi to the Adani group and highlighted the lapses in the investigation conducted by SEBI. He asked the Prime Minister to take accountability and said that the special session of the parliament was called for because the PM May be panicking. Several leaders of the Opposition are extremely critical of the impromptu session of the Parliament, and called it a ruse to steal light from the INDIA Alliance's Mumbai chapter meet.

As reported by Hindustan Times, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has urged for the confirmation of a manifesto as early as October 2, while, the Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal called for the finalisation of seat sharing among the parties at the earliest.

Several leaders of the Opposition have asked for the finalisation of the poll plans at the earliest, as there are chances of an early election. They said that the plans need to be cemented and driven to fruition as they are on a time crunch, conducting further meetings will not be of much help.

The meeting on Friday will life the fog off several crucial aspects of the INDIA Alliance and it will be attended by several leaders of the Opposition including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, MK Stalin, and many others.