On the second day of the INDIA bloc's meeting in Mumbai, the opposition parties will set up sub-committees for chalking out joint campaigns and rallies, and unveil the logo for the alliance. The group will also issue a joint statement and address a press conference at the end of the day.
While the first day of the INDIA bloc's third huddle was informal discussions to finalise the agenda for Friday's structured meeting, the second day will focus on forming the coordination committee and four sub-groups. The groups would be tasked with planning joint programme of the alliance, preparing the action plan, handling social media, and for research and data analysis to take on the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), reported PTI.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reportedly urged the leaders on Thursday to give one name from their respective parties for being part of the coordination committee. There could also be a discussion on Friday on having a convener for the alliance. The INDIA group would also unveil its logo on Friday, though there were no discussions on it on Thursday.
The Thursday's meeting had discussed the special session of Parliament for five days between September 18 and 22 called by the government. While the government has not specified the agenda of the meeting, the opposition leaders wondered whether it had anything to do with the buzz that the Modi dispensation was contemplating advancing the Lok Sabha elections.
The call also prompted the leaders to expedite plans for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar said the opposition should be ready for all contingency plans to take on the NDA's surprise element strategy and gimmicks. Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray also wondered "what was cooking as the session is being convened on the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi ."
Congress president Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee, AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, among others, participated in the informal talks.
National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, CPI (ML) Dipankar Bhattacharya, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and SP president Akhilesh Yadav, and RLD's Jayant Chaudhary, were also present at the meeting.