Lok Sabha polls: INDIA, NDA alliances to hold parallel meetings in Mumbai

The ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA alliance will hold parallel high-level meetings on September 1 in Mumbai, the National Herald has learnt.

Both the alliances are meeting to chalk out strategies for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

While the meeting of the NDA alliance, as per sources, is aimed at adding more allies, the INDIA alliance is meeting to decide logo, flag and the name of the convener or chairperson of the alliance.

Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar who has been instrumental in bringing all the opposition parties together under the umbrella of the INDIA alliance, said some of the regional parties that were part of the NDA alliance will join INDIA alliance.

The socialist stalwart said that seat sharing will also be discussed in the meeting of the INDIA alliance. The INDIA alliance is also expected to launch the logo on September 1.

Congress senior leader Ashok Chavan said,  “An informal gathering will be held on the evening of August 31 in Mumbai and a formal meeting on September 1. In this meeting, the next agenda will be discussed. We are deciding to make a common logo and it may get unveiled on August 31”.

Parallel to the meeting of the INDIA alliance, the NDA alliance will also hold the meeting on September 1.

NCP MP Sunil Tatkare, who represents the Ajit Pawar faction Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction said, “In this meeting, all our state government alliance partners BJP, ShivSena (Eknath Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar) will participate.”

When asked about the timing of the meeting which coincides with the INDIA alliance meeting, Sunil Tatkare said, “Our meeting was planned long back before the last state assembly Monsoon session by our coordination committee, so it’s no point to say that we are doing this as opposition parties are also having meeting on the same day.”

INDIA or ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’ is a group of 26 opposition parties, including the Congress.

The parties have come together to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and prevent it from winning a third straight term at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The first meeting of the joint opposition convened in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. The third meeting is slated to be in Mumbai on August 31-September 1.