United opposition sounds poll bugle: Key takeaways from INDIA bloc meeting

A sense of urgency was clearly evident in the proceedings of the opposition's Mumbai meeting in the wake of the Modi government calling a special session of Parliament and reviving discussions on simultaneous elections. The INDIA alliance, as it wrapped up its two-day discussions, resolved to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections together as far as possible, initiate seat-sharing arrangements immediately, hold public rallies at the earliest in different parts of the country and coordinate their communications and media strategies.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) also finalised the formation of joint committees and working groups, the most important being a 14-member coordination and election strategy committee that will facilitate a coordinated approach of the various parties with regard to their electoral strategy, joint programmes, and messaging. The anti-BJP bloc also formed a campaign committee and three working groups that will deal with the subjects of social media, traditional media and research, respectively.

The coordination committee comprises K.C. Venugopal of the Congress, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK leader T.R. Baalu, JMM leader Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejasvi Yadav, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, JD(U) chief Lallan Singh, CPI general-secretary D. Raja, NC's Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti. The CPI(M) will nominate its member to the panel later.

According to sources, the parties will release a vision document at Rajghat in Delhi on October 2. This will mark the beginning of the public outreach of these parties. They plan to hold five to six joint rallies in major cities and then move to smaller centres. Amongst the issues that will be included in the vision document are the need to save democracy, price rise, unemployment and farmers' woes. It is learnt that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at the meeting that there is no time to waste since the Modi government could advance the Lok Sabha elections. She said that a manifesto should be finalised at the earliest and released on October 2. This idea was taken on board by the other parties and it was decided that a common manifesto in the form of a vision document will be placed before the people.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have said in the meeting that the alliance needs to bust the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said there are misconceptions about the prime minister that are being propagated by his PR machinery, and those should be countered by the INDIA bloc with the help of facts and figures. According to sources, he said the perception about Modi that he is non-corrupt, has improved the image of India abroad and is a savior of the other backward castes is not the real picture. It was agreed in the meeting that the working group on research could work out a plan to counter Modi's image.

It is learnt that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was extremely vocal about concluding seat-sharing discussions at the earliest. He is learnt to be keen that the seat-sharing adjustments are finalised by the end of September.

Rahul Gandhi too is learnt to have stressed on speeding up the seat-sharing arrangements between the parties. He said it would have to be done state-wise and assured the other parties that the Congress is willing to make maximum adjustments.

As per a senior Congress leader, the effort of the parties will be to have an understanding on around 440-450 seats. In states such as Kerala and Punjab, where the BJP is not in contention, the parties could have friendly fights.

The alliance, however, refrained from dealing with the tricky issue of naming a convenor for the grouping. According to a senior opposition leader, it is a topic that could result in an intense debate and irreconcilable differences coming to the fore. The leader said it will not be easy to form a consensus on a name for the convenor's post since every party has its own aspirations and the person who becomes the convenor is likely to be seen as a prime ministerial probable.

Also, the logo of the alliance was not released although it was listed in the schedule of the meeting. According to sources, views of the public will be invited for the logo of the alliance. It is also learnt that some parties had reservations with regard to a logo for the alliance.

Amongst the resolutions passed at the meeting is having seat-sharing arrangements in different states which will be initiated immediately and concluded at the earliest in a collaborative spirit of give-and-take. It was also resolved that public rallies will be organised at the earliest in different parts of the country on issues of public concern and importance.

An issue discussed at the meeting was the need to pool in the resources of the various parties with regard to their communications and media outreach. It was resolved that the parties will coordinate their respective communications and media strategies and campaigns with the theme 'Judega Bharat, Jitega Bharat' in different languages.

According to a senior Congress leader, the message being conveyed from the Mumbai meeting is that they are ready for elections. A decision on when and where the next meeting of the opposition parties will be held has been left to the Congress and two possible venues are Bhopal and Hyderabad, a party leader said.