Team News Riveting
Bengaluru, July 18
The opposition parties on Tuesday announced the formation of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the ruling NDA led by the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
A committee comprising 11 members will be set up for coordination, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge announced on Tuesday at the joint press conference after a meeting of 26 opposition parties in Bengaluru. The name was reportedly suggested by TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. It was accepted after discussion.
The Congress president said an 11-member coordination committee would be set up and its composition would be finalised in the next meeting in Mumbai. The dates for the Mumbai meeting would be announced soon, he added.
Kharge said a common secretariat would also be set up in Delhi for campaign management and specific committees would be formed for separate issues. The Congress President launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he was now trying to bring together parties that had splintered and that showed that “he is afraid of opposition parties”.
“There are some differences between us but we have put that behind… We are together in the interest of the country,” Kharge said. “We’ll fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly and succeed,” he added.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi said they had decided to prepare an action plan where they would talk about their ideology and programmes. “The fight is against the ideology of the BJP and their thinking, they are attacking the country, unemployment is rampant, and the country’s wealth is being taken away from millions and handed over in the hands of a few,” Gandhi said.
Mamata Banerjee talked about the name of the new alliance and said, “BJP, can you challenge INDIA? We love our motherland, we are the patriotic people of the country, we are for farmers, Dalits, we are for the country, for the world.”
