The first meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc’s coordination committee was held in New Delhi on Wednesday, at Sharad Pawar’s residence, and was attended by 12 member parties.
It was decided that the first joint rally of the Opposition bloc would be held in Bhopal, in poll bound Madhya Pradesh. The INDIA bloc has also decided to start the “process for determining seat-sharing”. It was also resolved by those “present” to take up the issue of caste census. A unanimous decision was taken to boycott select television news anchors as decided by the working group on media.
The two absentees out of the 14-member coordination committee include Trinamool Congress’s Abhishek Banerjee and Communist Party of India (Marxist), who have not yet appointed their nominee to the panel.
Reading a joint statement at the conclusion of the meeting, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, said, “Abhishek Banerjee of TMC could not attend the meeting due to a summon by the Enforcement Directorate, arising out of the vendetta politics of Bharatiya Janata Party and the Prime Minister.”
The coordination committee, he said, has decided, “to start the process for determining seat-sharing. It was decided that the member parties will hold the talks and decide at the earliest.”
On this issue, there were a few varying views. According to sources, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha, said that the talks on seat-sharing formula, at least in the case of AAP, will have to be done at the national level. Mr. Chadha’s remarks come in the backdrop of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s reluctance to cede any seats to the Congress, whom the AAP defeated in the last assembly elections.
National Conference’s Omar Abdullah, speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the meeting said that he has proposed that the Lok Sabha seats currently held by the member parties should not be up for discussion.
“One of the things I have proposed at the meeting is that the seats that are held by the member parties of the INDIA bloc, should not be open for discussions. We should be discussing the seats that are held by the BJP & their allies or those held by non-INDIA parties,” he said. He clarified, however, that the proposal has not been accepted. If accepted, it will have repercussions, especially for Punjab, where the Congress holds eight seats out of the 13 in the state and AAP has only one.
The committee also resolved to hold joint public meetings in different parts of the country. The first public meeting will be held at Bhopal in the first week of October on the issues of “rising prices, unemployment and corruption of the BJP government”.
Sources said that when Bhopal was proposed as the venue for the first joint rally, Samajwadi Party representative and Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali Khan pointed out that the INDIA bloc must also clarify if the electoral understanding will extend to assembly elections too.
SP is keen to get a few seats in the state since they have had a nominal presence in the assembly for a very long time. In 2003, they held seven seats. To this, sources said, Congress leader Mr. Venugopal assured that he will take the message to his party and consult its state unit. Several other members also agreed to the proposition.
It is learnt that CPI general secretary D. Raja, also pointed out that, while the Left parties do not contest on a large number of seats, it would like the Congress to accommodate them in seats where they have influence; in Telangana, for instance, which also goes for polls in a few months.
The joint statement issued at the end of the meeting also said, that “the parties present in the meeting agreed to take up the issue of caste census.” This line, as per sources, was inserted at the insistence of Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Janata Dal (United) leader Sanjay Jha.
In the Mumbai summit, held on August 31-September 1, Trinamool president Mamata Banerjee had opposed INDIA bloc taking a stand on the issue just yet. She had asked for more time, which was agreed to. When asked about Ms. Banerjee’s objections, Mr. Venugopal said that the decision was taken by those present and they will be speaking to TMC.
The coordination committee has also authorised the sub-group on media to decide upon the names of the anchors on whose shows none of the INDIA parties will send their representatives.
