The alliance of opposition parties who have declared a joint fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 will be called INDIA, an acronym for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. A decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the opposition grouping in Bengaluru today.
The two-day meet of 26 opposition parties hosted by the Congress culminated today, with the major takeaway being that the alliance has zeroed in on a name for itself. It will be called INDIA, a name that has instantly given rise to a rash of slogans and a common observation that the parties have set the stage for an INDIA vs NDA fight in the Lok Sabha polls.
Majority of the leaders in the meeting were keen on finalising a name for the alliance so that the disparate parties were seen as a common force by the people. The name emanated from the discussion in which it was said that the name should signify what the parties are fighting for. According to sources, the name INDIA was suggested by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who felt that it aptly summed up what the opposition was fighting for – protecting the idea of India against the assaults of the BJP-RSS. It found favour with the other leaders and was finalised.
“The idea of India is being attacked and the wealth of India is being handed over to a few people close to the prime minister and the BJP. Unemployment and price rise has left people reeling. The fight is about this India. This idea emerged from our discussion, that the fight is not between two political formations but it is a fight to defend the idea of India,” Rahul said at the joint press conference of the opposition parties after the meeting.
“And you know what happens to those who fight against the idea of India...the fight is between India and the BJP, India and Mr Narendra Modi,” he further said.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said zeroing in on the name for the alliance was the first achievement of the grouping.
Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee played on the name of the alliance to say that the campaign of the opposition parties will be under the banner of INDIA. She even coined a slogan on the spot, saying, “INDIA Jeetega, BJP Harega” (INDIA will win, BJP will lose).
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, too, punned on the alliance name, saying INDIA is fighting for India.
The other issues on the agenda, such as setting up a coordination committee, choosing a convenor for the group and setting up a secretariat, will be finalised at the alliance's next meeting, which the grouping has decided will be held in Mumbai.
Kharge said the leaders are in agreement with regard to setting up an 11-member coordination committee, a convenor for the group and setting up a secretariat in Delhi to oversee the joint campaign of the alliance.
Meanwhile, taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for convening a meeting of the NDA on the same day as the opposition meet, Kharge said it showed that he was afraid of the opposition. “He has called a meeting of 30 parties. I wonder if some of these parties are even registered with the Election Commission,” he said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had skipped the press conference at the Patna meeting, said in the joint briefing that he was happy that the number of parties had gone up since the meet held in the Bihar capital. He said the parties have to focus on the plight of the common man since everybody, be it the youth, farmers, labourers, traders, industrialists or housewives, were unhappy.
The opposition leaders also came agreed on a joint resolution, the gist of which was that the parties were united in their fight against the alleged assault of the BJP on the foundational pillars of the Constitution – secular democracy, economic sovereignty, social justice and federalism. They said they were determined to combat the confront the continuing assault on the Constitution and on constitutional rights of democratically elected state governments.
“We have come together to defeat the hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities; stop the rising crimes against women, Dalits, Adivasis and Kashmiri Pandits; demand a fair hearing for all socially, educationally and economically backward communities; and, as a first step, implement the Caste Census,” the resolution said.
The parties also pledged “to present to the nation an alternative political, social and economic agenda. We promise to transform both the substance and style of governance that will be more consultative, democratic and participative.”
