July 17, 2026

I.N.D.I.A Alliance - Moving Ahead With Purpose

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-08-28 06:11:22

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

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The Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance, or I.N.D.I.A, the grouping of 26 (more are likely to join) opposition parties that is shaping up fast to challenge the NDA, is going to hold its next meeting at Mumbai on September 1. Setting aside internal contradictions, the alliance is now moving ahead seriously and with purpose. It is expected that the during the Mumbai meeting, a convener (or conveners, as there are multiple candidates angling for the post, although Nitish Kumar is fast emerging as the sole consensus candidate) is likely to be appointed, although there are reports that the convener might be named in the next meeting; a coordination panel is likely to be formed (which is the main agenda of the meeting); a logo is likely to be unveiled and plans for holding joint campaign will be finalized. The meeting is also likely to announce joint rallies in six states in the coming weeks to show the intent of the alliance as a serious challenger to the NDA.

After the Congress-AAP tiff, the latest problem that the I.N.D.I.A alliance is facing is the equivocal stance of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, although he has come clean in the last few days to assert that he will have no truck with the BJP and has slammed both the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction that broke away from the party. Pawar has also said that the demand for Lok Sabha seats by all parties in the alliance will be decided strictly on the basis of their strength in the constituency.

While the alliance has now become reasonably stable with the express support of 26 parties, the absence of K Chandrasekhar Rao and BRS still rankles. On Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged in a rally in Hyderabad that KCR has a secret pact with the BJP and that is why he is ignoring the I.N.D.I.A alliance. Apart from BRS, BJD and YRSC, most major opposition parties have joined the alliance. Telangana, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh together send 63 MPs, or more than 10% of the total, to the Lok Sabha and the ruling parties in each state are likely to corner most of the seats. That is why the I.N.D.I.A alliance is worried. But as things stand now, now of these parties are likely to join the alliance.