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Opposition Names New Front for 2024 Parliamentary Polls 'INDIA'

© AP PhotoCongress party leader Rahul Gandhi
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi - Sputnik India, 1920, 18.07.2023
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At least 26 opposition parties have been deliberating for two days in Bengaluru to form a strategy for 2024 General Elections to take on the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The 26 political parties that met in Bengaluru city in Karnataka on Tuesday have decided to name the united opposition front as INDIA which stands for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
The name for one of the largest opposition fronts since the independence of the country was decided after the parties deliberated for two days in their second meeting. The first meeting was held in Patna on June 23.
The gathering was attended by top politicians including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar, among others.
It was called to streamline strategy and pose a united front to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls. On the first day, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi hosted a dinner for the politicians.
The name came after much deliberation, with left parties in favor of using ‘Front’ instead of ‘Alliance’ while some parties were not too keen on 'NDA' in the name. For his part, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray pushed for a name that would not have any mention of opposition.
However, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) politician Jitendra Ahwad said that it was Rahul Gandhi who came up with the name finally and his creativity was “greatly appreciated” in a tweet.
India's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, center, participates in a prayer meeting at Gandhi Ashram or Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. - Sputnik India, 1920, 17.07.2023
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Addressing a joint press conference after the meeting, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge expressed happiness as he said that 26 parties had vowed to work together.
He further informed media that after finalizing the name of the alliance, an 11-member coordination committee will be set up and the members of the committee will be elected in the next meeting scheduled to be held in Mumbai. However, the date of the next meeting was not announced.
“One secretariat will be set up for campaign management and other committees for specific issues will be set up in Delhi since it is the capital and it is convenient for everybody,” he stated.
The opposition parties have also drafted a joint statement against the BJP which said that they will present an alternative political, social and economic agenda to the country. In the joint statement, the united opposition also promised to transform both the substance and style of governance that will be more consultative, democratic and participative.
Meanwhile, it also took a dig at the BJP’s meeting with its allies in Delhi, suggesting that some of the 30 parties present in the government-backed event are not registered with the Election Commission.

“I am also in parliament, I have not heard of any of these parties,” Kharge said, adding that the NDA did not care about its allies before the opposition unity.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is afraid of the opposition parties, that’s why he has called the meeting.
Meanwhile, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also attacked the BJP as he said that the party is destroying the country and its democratic fabric.
“The country's voice is being muffled. This is the fight for the country's voice and that is why this name was chosen - Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance - INDIA. This is a fight between BJP and India, Narendra Modi and India, their ideology and India,” he said.
“We will come up with an action plan to talk about the country's core ideology and our steps to safeguard it,” he added.
BJP rallies across Karnataka - Sputnik India, 1920, 18.07.2023
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Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and West Bengal state chief Mamata Banerjee during her address thanked all the politicians of different parties present in Bengaluru and said: “The real challenge has already started. The alliance of 26 parties decided a name. The government's only job is to buy and sell governments. That is why, we have unitedly decided on the name INDIA. NDA, can you challenge INDIA? Can the BJP challenge INDIA?”
At the BJP's meeting with its allies in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the opposition meeting calling it “corrupt and dynasty politics."
The BJP meeting was called by the party's National President J.P. Nadda on Monday.
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