Leaders of INDIA bloc parties meet, senior leadership to gather soon to plan strategy for LS polls

NEW DELHI: Members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc seem to have buried the hatchet as parleys are in progress to finalise a convenient date to hold the meeting of coalition partners according to the availability of their top leaders.

The Congress had to call off the Wednesday meeting, which was apparently scheduled without consultation with coalition partners in the national capital, in which the top leadership of opposition parties was supposed to be present. Instead, floor leaders from 17 parties of the ‘INDIA’ bloc met at the residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday evening.

However, leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) were not present. Kharge, along with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, chaired the meeting of the opposition’s parliament leaders.

“A parliamentary strategy meeting of like-minded parties of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha floor leaders was held at 10, Rajaji Marg. We will take up the issues of the people in Parliament in the remaining part of this session to hold the government accountable. A date for the meeting of INDIA parties will soon be fixed in consultation with the leaders of all parties. Judega Bharat, Jeetega INDIA,” Kharge posted on the micro-blogging site ‘X’.

The Congress party’s whip in Rajya Sabha, Syed Naseer Hussain, told media persons that several issues, including the upcoming bills in Parliament and the behaviour of the government, were also deliberated upon. “It was decided that the dates of the leaders of the INDIA bloc would be finalised in a day or two and announced,” he said.

Asked about the absence of TMC and Shiv Sena, Hussain said they had already informed that they would not be able to attend. “It happens daily that some parties are not able to participate due to some compulsion,” he remarked.

According to Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena-UBT, the next meeting of the group of opposition parties may take place on December 16 or 18. On Tuesday, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav said that the members of the opposition’s coalition will hold a meeting on December 17.

In an apparent snub to Congress for ignoring INDIA bloc members during recently concluded elections in Hindi heartland—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh—TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, on Monday, expressed their inability to attend the meeting.