- Thursday, April 24, 2025
Sources said the Left parties wanted the word ‘Alliance’ to be changed to ‘Front’ while some were not keen on having ‘NDA’ in the name.
By: Shubham Ghosh
TWENTY SIX opposition parties that came together in Bengaluru in the southern Indian state of Karnataka this week to streamline a strategy and pose a united front to take on prime minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2024 general elections have branded themselves under the acronym ‘INDIA’, signifiying Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance.
According to a report by NDTV, the acronym INDIA was suggested to name the big opposition front that aims to defeat the BJP in next year’s elections. It also cited sources as saying that the Left parties wanted the word ‘Alliance’ to be changed to ‘Front’ while some were not keen on having ‘NDA’ in the name.
The NDA is the National Democratic Alliance, which is led by Modi’s BJP.
Tuesday (18), the second day of the meeting, was more formal with deliberations on the grand alliance’s nomenclature. The meeting on the first day (17) was more informal. At the dinner meeting on Monday, all political parties present at the gathering to suggest names.
Sources also told NDTV that former Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who took part in the meeting, will be named the front’s president while Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, as its convenor. Gandhi has also served as the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, the alliance led by the Congress, between 2004 and 2014.
It was also decided that two sub-committees will be set up — to finalise the common minimum programme and communication points, and to plant joint opposition events, rallies and conventions.
Some of India’s top opposition leaders took part in the meeting besides Sonia Gandhi and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge; MK Stalin, chief minister of Tamil Nadu; Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi and Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal were also present. Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad was also seen.
DK Shivakumar, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka, a state which the Congress wrested from the BJP in May, also attended the meeting. Chief minister Siddaramaiah welcomed the participants on the first day.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, who is fighting an inner tussle in his party, did not attend the meeting on the first day but arrived in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Congress leader Pawan Khera said all parties that have the will and guts were welcome to fight Modi’s BJP.
The opposition parties held another meeting in Patna in the northern state of Bihar last month.
The opposition parties’ meeting in Bengaluru coincided with an NDA meeting in Delhi, where the BJP, eying a grand show of strength, announced a mega meeting of its own featuring 38 parties.
