INDIA Alliance Meeting: Grand brainstorming of 23 parties in New Delhi today, but how will Rahul and Kharge deal with the differences burning within?

A very important meeting of ‘INDIA Alliance’, a joint platform of opposition parties formed with the intention of strengthening the barricade against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Indian politics, is going to be held in New Delhi on Monday. This meeting, which is being held after a long gap of almost two years, is being seen as a big turning point in terms of opposition unity.

After the changes in political developments in recent times and the setbacks caused by the election results of many states, the alliance now faces a tough challenge to reposition itself and redefine its strategies. A total of 23 opposition party leaders are expected to gather in this meeting, which is going to be held at the Constitutional Club in New Delhi, which will include big faces like Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Uddhav Thackeray.

What is the main agenda of today’s meeting?

According to Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, 23 political parties have given their formal consent for this meeting. The main focus of the meeting is to prepare a strong and common roadmap for the preparations for the upcoming state assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections of 2029. Apart from this, there will also be a serious discussion on speaking with one voice to corner the government on national issues and creating better coordination within the alliance.

Another interesting thing is that in this meeting, the doors can be formally opened to include veteran South Indian cinema actor-turned-politician Vijay’s party ‘Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam’ (TVK) in the alliance.

Indifference of loved ones amidst the glitter of the meeting

Even though the opposition is considering it as a big show of unity, the absence of some very important and big allies has exposed the internal divisions within the alliance. We can easily understand this from the table given below:

Even internal differences did not end completely

Kerala dispute reached Delhi

Not only is the distance between the allies a big problem within the alliance, but the old bitterness between the parties coming together has also not completely gone away. For example, the sharp allegations and counter-allegations that took place between the leaders of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and Congress during the Kerala Assembly elections can be heard in today’s meeting. The Left parties clearly believe that the allegations made by the Congress were against the basic spirit of the alliance. CPM’s M.A. Baby and CPI’s D. Raja have indicated to bring this issue on the agenda of the meeting.

BJP’s sharp jibe at opposition unity

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also made a scathing attack on this meeting of the opposition and the infighting among its allies. Taking aim at the alliance, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said that the differences within the ‘INDIA’ alliance are so deep that they can never stand together. He claimed that this alliance has completely failed to become a strong and effective political option for the people of the country. In such a situation, the political eyes of the entire country are fixed on whether this meeting to be held today will remain only a formal meeting or whether a really strong strategy will emerge.