INDIA panel to meet tomorrow, seat-sharing, campaign on table

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, September 11

The maiden meeting of the coordination panel of the opposition INDIA bloc will discuss a plan for pre-Lok Sabha poll seat-sharing possibilities, and joint election campaigns and rallies.

At their last meeting in Mumbai, INDIA leaders had said a preliminary agreement on seat-sharing “as far as possible” was likely to be reached by September 30.

A 14-member coordination panel was formed and tasked with working on the election strategy. RJD’s senior leader Manoj Jha on Monday said the meeting on September 13 was crucial as it came close on the heels of the Opposition bagging four seats against BJP’s three in the recent state Assembly bypolls. “The results of bypolls in six states were clear. Opposition parties won four segments and the BJP three. This shows that a narrative is emerging in our favour. Even in Bageshwar which the Congress lost to the BJP, the margin was small,” Jha said.

In the byelection results announced on Friday, the BJP retained Dhanpur in Tripura and Bageshwar in Uttarakhand and wrested Bozanagar from the CPM in Tripura.

The BJP lost to the TMC in Bengal. Opposition parties won four seats — Ghosi in UP, Dumri in Jharkhand, Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala. On the agenda before the committee, Jha said it would hold deliberations on the preliminary outcomes from the meetings of other sub-groups.

“Meetings of the sub-groups on social media, campaign, research have been held. Outcomes from these will be brought before the coordination panel and approved. A final shape will be given to the agenda. How the joint rallies and campaigns should look like will also be finalised along with what locations to choose for collaborative campaigns,” the RJD leader added.

The committee will meet at the residence of NCP founder Sharad Pawar in New Delhi.

It has the following leaders as members — Congress’ KC Venugopal, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, DMK’s MK Stalin, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, Shiv Sena UBT’s Sanjay Raut, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, JDU’s Lallan Singh, AAP’s Raghav Chadha, JMM’s Hemant Soren, SP’s Javed Ali Khan, CPI’s D Raja, NC’s Omar Abdullah, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti.

Importantly, the INDIA bloc remains evasive on the issue of leadership.

On whether the coordination committee could discuss the face for the anti-BJP alliance, Jha cited 1977 and 2004 to say on both the occasions, PM faces were not projected.

About The Author

Tribune News Service

The Tribune News Service brings you the latest news, analysis and insights from the region, India and around the world. Follow the Tribune News Service for a wide-ranging coverage of events as they unfold, with perspective and clarity.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.

#BJP #Lok Sabha #Mumbai