A two-day meeting of the opposition alliance ‘INDIA’, formed to challenge the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, will be held in Mumbai from today. In this, apart from deciding the name of the convener of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a coordination committee is expected to be formed. At the same time, ahead of the meeting, the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday put up saffron flags with pictures of Uddhav outside the Mumbai airport.
Santosh Kadam, secretary of the frontal organization Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (UBT), said that saffron flags have been put up outside the Mumbai airport. This is our identity. He said that Hindutva is our identity and all the people living in India are Hindus. The rest of the alliance partners will also agree on this.
Let us tell you that saffron flags and posters have been put up from the airport to the venue of the meeting. The poster reads in bold letters ‘Judega Bharat, Jeetega Bharat’. The meeting will be attended by several opposition leaders including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah.
Before this meeting, there was a competition among the parties included in the opposition alliance to stake claim for the post of PM. After Congress, JDU and Trinamool, SP, Shiv Sena-UBT and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have also staked claim for the post of PM. However, key leaders of the alliance have tried to avoid this issue for the time being. At the same time, AAP has clarified that Arvind Kejriwal has no such aspiration. Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also dismissed questions related to the PM post, saying that the alliance is the face of the PM post.
28 parties will participate in the opposition unity meeting. Apart from the alliance leader, coordinator and coordination committee, the 450 seats selected under the formula of ‘one seat, one candidate’ can be discussed in the meeting. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is said to be the frontrunner in the race for the post of alliance leader.