INDIA bloc forms panel for coordination, strategy

The INDIA bloc of 28 political parties on Friday resolved to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together "as far as possible" and conclude their seat arrangements in states at the earliest, possibly by September 30, in a spirit of "give-and-take", an admission of the inherent state-specific contradictions among its constituents.

- ARCHIS MOHAN

At the third meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA, which concluded in Mumbai, Opposition leaders identified inflation, the "crony capitalism of the Narendra Modi government", its "anti-poor, pro-big business policies", and China "occupying India's territory" as its principal planks with which the coalition will approach the people to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

It "resolved to organise public rallies at the earliest in different parts of the country on issues of public concern and importance". The first public meeting could take place in Delhi, sources said, and either Hyderabad or Bhopal, capitals of poll-bound Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, respectively, could be the venue of the next meeting of the bloc's top leaders.