Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The meeting of the INDIA bloc, which was reportedly scheduled by the Congress without consultation with coalition partners, will take place on Wednesday in the national capital at the residence of its president Mallikarjun Kharge. Many top leaders of opposition parties including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Janata Dal-United (JDU) are skipping the meeting.
However, the leaders of the parties in the alliance are likely to meet in the third week of this month. The discussion in the meeting is expected to revolve around formation of strategy and seat sharing arrangements for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In an apparent snub to the Congress for ignoring INDIA members during the recently concluded elections in the Hindi heartland — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh –, TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday expressed their inability to attend the meeting.
A permanent member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) Gurdeep Singh Sappal on Tuesday said that another round of parleys involving top opposition leaders would happen in the third week of December.
“A coordination meeting of Parliamentary Party leaders of India Alliance will be at 6 pm on December 6th, 2023 at the residence of Congress President Sh. Mallikarjun Kharge. Thereafter meeting of Party Presidents/ Heads of the India Alliance will be scheduled in third week of December at a date convenient to all,” he posted on ‘X’. Sappal is also a coordinator, Congress president’s office.
The opposition parties under the banner of INDIA bloc had convened three meetings so far in Patna, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
According to JDU leaders, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is unable to come to Delhi for the meeting as he is suffering from viral fever. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin will also skip the convention due to Cyclone Michaung, which has caused havoc in parts of his state.
Referring to the alliance meeting, the spokesperson of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Kunal Ghosh said that the Congress needs to shun its feudal mindset and agree to proper seat sharing to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“We have heard that the INDIA bloc meeting has been deferred. Yesterday, Mamata Didi (West Bengal CM) spoke about no proper information about the proposed meeting. We are confident with this INDIA. If Congress leaves this mentality of ‘Zameendaari’ (feudalism), adjusts seats properly, uses the experience of seniors like Mamata Banerjee and fights with a proper spirit, then it is possible to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha,” he said.
ALSO READ | Akhilesh Yadav to give INDIA bloc’s meet a miss; SP leader Ramgopal Yadav likely to attend Follow channel on WhatsApp
NEW DELHI: The meeting of the INDIA bloc, which was reportedly scheduled by the Congress without consultation with coalition partners, will take place on Wednesday in the national capital at the residence of its president Mallikarjun Kharge. Many top leaders of opposition parties including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Janata Dal-United (JDU) are skipping the meeting.
However, the leaders of the parties in the alliance are likely to meet in the third week of this month. The discussion in the meeting is expected to revolve around formation of strategy and seat sharing arrangements for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In an apparent snub to the Congress for ignoring INDIA members during the recently concluded elections in the Hindi heartland — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh –, TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday expressed their inability to attend the meeting.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
A permanent member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) Gurdeep Singh Sappal on Tuesday said that another round of parleys involving top opposition leaders would happen in the third week of December.
“A coordination meeting of Parliamentary Party leaders of India Alliance will be at 6 pm on December 6th, 2023 at the residence of Congress President Sh. Mallikarjun Kharge. Thereafter meeting of Party Presidents/ Heads of the India Alliance will be scheduled in third week of December at a date convenient to all,” he posted on ‘X’. Sappal is also a coordinator, Congress president’s office.
The opposition parties under the banner of INDIA bloc had convened three meetings so far in Patna, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
According to JDU leaders, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is unable to come to Delhi for the meeting as he is suffering from viral fever. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin will also skip the convention due to Cyclone Michaung, which has caused havoc in parts of his state.
Referring to the alliance meeting, the spokesperson of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Kunal Ghosh said that the Congress needs to shun its feudal mindset and agree to proper seat sharing to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“We have heard that the INDIA bloc meeting has been deferred. Yesterday, Mamata Didi (West Bengal CM) spoke about no proper information about the proposed meeting. We are confident with this INDIA. If Congress leaves this mentality of ‘Zameendaari’ (feudalism), adjusts seats properly, uses the experience of seniors like Mamata Banerjee and fights with a proper spirit, then it is possible to defeat the BJP in the Lok Sabha,” he said.
ALSO READ | Akhilesh Yadav to give INDIA bloc’s meet a miss; SP leader Ramgopal Yadav likely to attend Follow channel on WhatsApp
