On Wednesday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar hosted the inaugural meeting of the coordination committee of the opposition coalition INDIA. Eleven of the 14 opposition leaders were present at the meeting, which was taking place amid a controversy over DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remark regarding Sanatan Dharma.
They are likely to discuss the seat-sharing formulae for different states and a broad campaign strategy for the alliance. The leaders present at the meeting are: NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Congress' K C Venugopal, CPI's D Raja, SP's Jawed Ali Khan, DMK's T R Baalu, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, AAP MP Raghav Chadha, JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha, NC leader Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut was also present at the meeting.
Three members of the panel including JMM leader Hemant Soren, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee could not attend the meeting for different reasons. In order to ensure that a combined opposition candidate is put up against BJP candidates in Lok Sabha seats, sources claimed that the leaders of many opposition parties have requested an early seat-sharing formula to be worked up. However, a number of leaders stated that in order to reach such a solution, the parties must shed their egos and vested interests.
Although no decision has been made about the criteria, it is most likely to be based on how well parties performed in recent polls on a certain seat. A source aware of the details said the issue of seat-sharing will be discussed even though it may not be finalised during this meeting. The leaders will also lay a broad outlay of the election campaign for taking on the BJP, the sources said.
The resolution issued on September 1, after the third meeting of the bloc in Mimbai, said the parties would contest polls together as far as possible, and that seat sharing in arrangements in different states would be initiated immediately" and concluded at the earliest.