Both Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are heading to New Delhi to attend the I.N.D.I.A bloc meeting to be held on Tuesday. Besides, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is also a part of the meeting.
This is the first meeting of the allies post-election rout from heartland states. Congress party in particular has been on a back foot especially after loss in three states and it remains to be seen if the allies will be ready to accommodate the Congress on seat sharing especially in their regions. The loss is particularly problematic as far as I.N.D.I.A alliance are concerned since the allies fought against each in the state such as Samajwadi Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Earlier, the Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc meeting had been postponed after top leaders including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav decided to give it a miss.
The last meeting of the 27 alliance parties was held in Mumbai, hosted by Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray and saw Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and chief ministers of five states in attendance.
Over the two-day deliberations, the alliance had discussed major electoral issues for the upcoming general elections, carved out the coordination committee, and passed a three-point resolution to fight the 2024 Indian general elections together ‘as far as possible’.
The name of the Opposition alliance — Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) — was announced during the second meeting in Bengaluru.
The first meeting was hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna.
It was there that the parties resolved to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha polls together to “dethrone the BJP”.
