Mumbai: At their information meeting in Mumbai yesterday, most the INDIA bloc leaders expressed apprehension that the Central government may call early elections for the Lok Sabha, said sources. As per these sources, the leaders present in the meeting said that even if elections are held soon, the alliance members should still be prepared.
The discussion on the issue of 'one country, one election' is likely to be on the agenda of INDIA alliance's second and final day's conference today, said sources. The INDIA alliance leaders are also likely to discuss the reason for calling a five-day special session by the BJP government, and formulate a joint opinion on key issues like the Uniform Civil Code, Jammu Kashmir elections and mid-term polls.
Apart from this, key decisions including the seat sharing and appointing a convener will be brought to the table by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in the last day of the Opposition meet held in the India's financial capital, on Friday.
The INDIA alliance leaders on Thursday held informal talks aimed at charting a concrete roadmap and a structure for cooperation among the alliance partners to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Constituents of the INDIA bloc were understood to have fixed the agenda of the formal meeting on Friday when key decisions about the alliance's future strategy would be taken.
"The meeting was good. You will know the details tomorrow," Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray had told reporters.
Thackeray has hosted dinner for the INDIA leaders after the meeting.
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Ahead of the meeting, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated his charges against the Narendra Modi led-government in the Adani issue.
Rahul was seen chatting with the Sena leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut and the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Supriya Sule and Jayant Patil.
Uddhav Thackeray and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar were also seen sharing light moments ahead of the meeting.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah, are among the prominent Opposition leaders who had arrived here earlier in Mumbai.
Those who arrived on Thursday include Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary, among others.
Sources indicated that the INDIA bloc may announce a 11-member coordination committee and a logo for the alliance. It is still unclear whether the pre-poll coalition would appoint a convenor or not.
The bloc has said it has 28 members with two more parites including the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP), a Marxist political party from Maharashtra, being added to their like-minded group. Three northeastern parties have expressed their wish to join the alliance and would be placed for discussion at the meeting.
The Opposition parties had earlier met in Patna and Bengaluru. The Mumbai meeting is expected to chalk out a common campaign strategy to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. (with PTI inputs)
