I.N.D.I.A Bloc: Differences Remain, But Important Decisions Taken
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-09-01 15:20:10
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The third meeting of the I.N.D.I.A bloc concluded in Mumbai today but the parties failed to issue a political resolution or unveil the logo as announced. The logo part was understandable as according to reports, since five or six designs were shortlisted some leaders wanted further discussions to select the most appealing one. But not issuing a political resolution went against custom. Reports suggest that it was not issued as there were differences regarding the demand for caste census. While leaders from Bihar and UP wanted to include it in the resolution, Mamata Banerjee reportedly led the charge against it. Finally, it was decided not to adopt the political resolution.
The meeting set up a 14-member coordination committee comprising K C Venugopal (Congress), Sharad Pawar (NCP), T R Balu (DMK), M K Stalin (DMK), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena- UBT), TYejashwi Yadav (RJD), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), Raghav Chaddha (AAP), Javed Ali Khan (SP), Lallan Singh (JDU), Hemant Soren (JMM), D Raja (CPI), Omar Abdullah (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP). But the decision to appoint a convener was kept pending.
The meeting also decided to fight the elections together 'as far as possible'. The conditional statement shows that several grey areas remain in finalizing seat sharing (the meeting decided to initiate talks about seat sharing at state level immediately) and the bloc will have to get past several dark alleys and craters before engaging the BJP in direct contests in the 400 seats it says it has reportedly identified. It has to be recognized that the alliance is still a work-in-progress. However, a beginning has been made and if all goes well, maybe the rhetoric will be translated into action in the constituencies and the bloc will be able to seriously challenge the BJP in 2024. The slogan displayed on the stage in Mumbai was - "judega Bharat, jeetega INDIA" (Bharat will come together to make INDIA win). But for that to happen, all parties in I.N.D.I.A will have to earnestly come together first.
