INDIA parties asked to keep personal interests aside ahead of 3rd meeting

The sources said that all the opposition parties that have come together to take on the NDA have been asked to keep their high aspirations aside for the success of the alliance

New Delhi: As the third meeting of the INDIA opposition alliance is set to kick off on Thursday in Mumbai, parties will be asked to keep their personal interests aside in order to collectively defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, sources said.

The sources said that all the opposition parties that have come together to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), have been asked to keep their high aspirations aside for the success of the alliance.

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Even the Congress, which has a pan India presence, also needs to take on the role of “big brother” and show a big heart to accommodate the regional parties. Citing an example, the sources said that the Congress, which currently has only one seat in Uttar Pradesh, need to come to terms with the Samajwadi Party (SP), which is the major force in the political sensitive state against the ruling BJP.

Besides the SP, the RLD is also part of the INDIA bloc. Uttar Pradesh sends the highest number of 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha. The sources said that similarly, the Congress also needs to play ball with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, which is in power as it holds a major command on the vote share, and Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra with Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena as its partners.

The Congress also has alliances with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand and Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-United in Bihar. The sources said that Congress also needs to adjust with the AAP in Delhi and Punjab. In Tamil Nadu where the DMK-led government by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is a major force, the Congress needs to be more accommodating rather than pushing for more seats in the states where its ally partners are much stronger.

The sources further said that after a detailed discussion, the Congress is likely to sacrifice some seats in these states to ensure the INDIA’s victory in 2024. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had also stressed on the same lines addressing the second meeting in Bengaluru in July. Thus this point will be discussed in detail this time. The third meeting will be attended by 26 parties.

The first meeting of the INDIA alliance in Patna in June had witnessed the participation of 16 parties. However, in just a span of less than a month the INDIA family grew to 26 family in the second round of meetings in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18.

The sources further said that a draft of the common minimum programme and the logo of the INDIA parties will also be discussed in the third meeting, which is being organised by the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena (UBT)-led Maha Vikas Aghadi in Mumbai.