After multiple consultations, the INDIA alliance has decided to hold their first united public rally in Madhya Pradesh. According to DMK legislator TR Baalu, the opposition alliance of over two dozen parties will mobilize support in the poll-bound state in the first week of October.
The leader further stated that the group will soon begin seat-sharing negotiations for the forthcoming state assembly elections as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“We have decided to go for seat-sharing arrangements and discussions at various states. The states where assembly elections are going to be held immediately will be given priority. The first rally will be held in Bhopal in the first week of October,” Mr Baalu said.
The inaugural meeting of the INDIA alliance’s Coordination Committee, attended by 12 member parties, was conducted on Wednesday at NCP chairman Sharad Pawar’s residence in the national capital. The Trinamool Congress was the most conspicuous missing, since its nominee, Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, was “conveniently” summoned today by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in government school placements.
“The coordination committee decided to start the process for determining seat-sharing. It was decided that the member parties will hold talks and decide at the earliest,” the bloc said.
INDIA had its first byelections last week, with seven byelections held in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Kerala, Bengal, and Jharkhand. The announcement that the bloc would compete in three of these seats, in Kerala, Bengal, and Uttarakhand, aroused eyebrows.