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MUMBAI — The stage is set for the third National Opposition INDIA Conclave meeting scheduled here on September 1, the organisers said here on Thursday.
As many as 28 opposition parties from all over India -- up from 26 at the last Bengaluru meet in July -- shall attend the deliberations scheduled between 10.30 am and 2 pm on Friday, September 1.
Nearly 100 leaders from these parties, including 11 Chief Ministers, Presidents or Vice-Presidents and other top functionaries have started arriving here from Wednesday onwards.
Some like West Bengal CM and All India Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee, Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and others have reached Mumbai in the past two days.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Others, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and more from different parties, are reaching here Thursday afternoon.
Later, Rahul Gandhi will address a media conference with other Congress leaders here.
This evening, (August 31) the INDIA leaders would have an informal meeting before converging for dinner hosted by Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray at a suburban five-star hotel.
The main conclave shall be held on Friday to chart out the strategies and road map for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections when the INDIA bloc hopes to unseat the Bharatiya Janata Party from power.
The INDIA meet will also unveil the ‘INDIA logo’ which is likely to serve as a common beacon for all the parties to seek votes along with their individual party symbols in the next Lok Sabha polls.
After the meeting, the Opposition leaders shall attend a luncheon hosted by Maharashtra and Mumbai Congress units and later a select team of leaders will address a joint press conference and provide the highlights of the deliberations.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1] [bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]INDIA parties asked to keep personal interests aside ahead of 3rd meeting
NEW DELHI — As the third meeting of the INDIA opposition alliance is set to kick off on Thursday in Mumbai, parties will be asked to keep their personal interests aside in order to collectively defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, sources said.
The sources said that all the opposition parties that have come together to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), have been asked to keep their high aspirations aside for the success of the alliance.
Even the Congress, which has a pan-India presence, also needs to take on the role of "big brother" and show a big heart to accommodate the regional parties.
Citing an example, the sources said that the Congress, which currently has only one seat in Uttar Pradesh, need to come to terms with the Samajwadi Party (SP), which is the major force in the politically sensitive state against the ruling BJP.
Besides the SP, the RLD is also part of the INDIA bloc.
Uttar Pradesh sends the highest number of 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha.
The sources said that similarly, the Congress also needs to play ball with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, which is in power as it holds a major command on the vote share, and Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra with Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena as its partners.
The Congress also has alliances with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand and Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-United in Bihar.
The sources said that Congress also needs to adjust with the AAP in Delhi and Punjab.
In Tamil Nadu where the DMK-led government by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is a major force, the Congress needs to be more accommodating rather than pushing for more seats in the states where its ally partners are much stronger.
The sources further said that after a detailed discussion, the Congress is likely to sacrifice some seats in these states to ensure INDIA's victory in 2024.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had also stressed the same lines addressing the second meeting in Bengaluru in July.
Thus this point will be discussed in detail this time.
The third meeting will be attended by 26 parties.
The first meeting of the INDIA alliance in Patna in June witnessed the participation of 16 parties.
However, in just a span of less than a month, the INDIA family grew to 26 families in the second round of meetings in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18.
The sources further said that a draft of the common minimum programme and the logo of the INDIA parties will also be discussed in the third meeting, which is being organised by the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena (UBT)-led Maha Vikas Aghadi in Mumbai.