INDIA’s coordination panel to meet today: Will they be able to finalise seat-sharing?

We are months away from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but for the Opposition grouping, INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) the work has begun in earnest.

Fourteen members that make up the coordination panel of the bloc will meet today at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in New Delhi today and begin consultations on matters pertaining to seat sharing, strategy for the upcoming special session of Parliament, and plans for social media campaigning.

As the leaders gear up for what is being called an “important meeting”, let’s take a look at who’s on the committee and what shall be discussed. Notably, the meet today in the Capital comes after the INDIA bloc met in Mumbai on 31 August and 1 September. Until now, the Opposition grouping – of 28 parties – has met thrice – first in Patna, then in Bengaluru and finally in Mumbai.

Who’s who of the coordination committee

At the previous Mumbai meet, the leaders of the INDIA bloc had formed the coordination committee, comprising 14 leaders from different parties. It was decided by leaders of the various political parties that the newly-appointed coordination committee would be responsible for streamlining the process for pre-election alliances. It will decide on the national agenda, common campaign issues and programme outlines.

But who’s a part of this panel? Congress’ KC Venugopal, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, JD(U) president Lallan Singh, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party’s Javed Ali Khan, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, CPI leader D Raja, former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti are part of the panel.

It’s important to note here that TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee won’t attend today’s meet, as he has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate on the same day. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, he slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre for orchestrating this.

FIRST meet of INDIA’s coordination comm is on 13th Sept in Delhi, where I’m a member. But, @dir_ed conveniently served me a notice just now to appear before thm on the VERY SAME DAY! One can’t help but marvel at the TIMIDITY & VACUOSNESS of the 56-inch chest model. #FearofINDIA

— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) September 10, 2023

Apart from Banerjee, other leaders have confirmed their presence for today’s meet. Incidentally, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and senior leader Sanjay Raut also met NCP president Sharad Pawar at Silver Oak, Pawar’s south Mumbai residence on Tuesday where they discussed the seat-sharing plans.

Agenda for today’s meet

RJD’s Manoj Jha had earlier said this meeting would be important, as a final shape would be given to the agenda, what would be the programmes, where the campaigns will be held – all would be deliberated upon.

Today’s meet will extensively discuss seat-sharing amid the different parties and whether this alliance is only for the 2024 Lok Sabha election or would even extend to the upcoming Assembly elections in five states as well.

Seat-sharing is going to be a particularly tricky topic for the INDIA bloc to figure out; for instance, the AAP has announced 10 candidates each for the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. In Chhattisgarh, the Congress is defending its government and seeking a second term, while in Madhya Pradesh it hopes to replace the 18-year BJP regime. This has muddled the waters for the INDIA bloc. In places such as Punjab and Delhi, the AAP and the Congress are pitted against each other.

Moreover, in West Bengal, the TMC is pitted against the Left and Congress. In fact, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury has ruled out any alliance with the TMC in West Bengal and said secular parties along with the Left and the Congress will take on the BJP as well as the TMC in the state.

The same situation arises in Kerala where the where the Congress and the Left are pitted against one another and neither side wants to cede any political ground.

There are also reports that the coordination bloc of INDIA will deliberate on who will be the face of the alliance. When asked about the same, Manoj Jha told news agency PTI, “The discussions on a ‘face’ are an attribute of neo-liberal characteristics of the market and its influence on politics. There was no face in 1977, voices were raised against autocracy, JP (Narayan) was the leader but he did not become the prime minister, Morarji Desai became the PM.

“In 2004, the Shining India campaign fell apart… Was there any PM name, but we got Manmohan Singh who led the nation for 10 years and gave one of the best governments... I often say you are not buying shampoo or soap. On one hand, there is a party, where no one can speak against the prime minister, is this a good system? Or the system that the Opposition is proposing – a first among-equals kind of system is better? We are bringing a progressive alternative for the people.”

Apart from the crucial matter of seat-sharing, the meeting will also focus on finalising campaigns and rallies to be held in the coming days. The committee may also give its nod to a joint media and social media campaign that would highlight failures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government while offering glimpses into the Opposition bloc’s still evolving narrative of inclusive development alongside social and communal bonhomie.

Some even report that the committee may discuss, albeit informally, about the row over Tamil Nadu minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s statement on ‘Sanatan Dharma’. The Tamilian minister had earlier compared ‘Sanatan Dharma’ with diseases like ‘dengue and malaria’ and called for its ‘eradication’.

It will be interesting to see if the coordination committee can iron out the differences between the parties and if the INDIA bloc can pose an actual and serious challenge to the Narendra Modi-led BJP and the National Democratic Alliance.

With inputs from agencies