INDIA Announces Its First Joint Rally, Will Be Held In Bhopal On...

The INDIA alliance, after several meetings, has finally decided to hold their first joint public rally in Madhya Pradesh. The opposition alliance, comprising of over two dozen parties, will rally support in the poll-bound state in the first week of October, DMK lawmaker TR Baalu confirmed.

The leader also said that the bloc will soon initiate seat-sharing talks for the upcoming state assembly polls and also the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"We have decided to go for seat-sharing arrangements and discussions at various states. The states where assembly elections are going to be held immediately will be given priority. The first rally will be held in Bhopal in the first week of October," Mr Baalu said.

The first meeting of the Coordination Committee of the INDIA alliance, attended by 12 members parties, was held at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence in the national capital on Wednesday. The biggest absentee was the Trinamool Congress, whose nominee - Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee was "conveniently" summoned today by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its inquiry into alleged irregularities in appointments to government schools.

"The coordination committee decided to start the process for determining seat-sharing. It was decided that the member parties will hold talks and decide at the earliest," the bloc said.

INDIA contested its first elections last week - seven bypolls across Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Kerala, Bengal and Jharkhand. Eyebrows were raised after it was revealed that the bloc would fight each other in three of these seats - in Kerala, Bengal and Uttarakhand.