INDIA bloc's agenda to stick to key grassroots issues, say its leaders

MUMBAI: The formal discussions of the INDIA bloc will take place on Friday morning, and a logo of the alliance will be unveiled. This is the third meeting of the opposition grouping after one in Patna in June and another in Bengaluru in July. Sixtythree representatives from 28 political parties will attend the meeting.
If a Congress leader is to be believed, the general view is that any discussion on a seat-sharing formula will be a long-drawn exercise."Senior leaders of the INDIA bloc will discuss the strategy to ensure the defeat of NDA nominees in the Lok Sabha polls, and the consensus is that decisions on seat-sharing should be taken at the state-level committees. We have 28 parties and 63 leaders. They will work out an action plan, take decisions and bring these to the notice of the national-level coordination committee, which will then take a final call. Ultimately, elective merit will be the main criterion for selecting a candidate," the leader said.
On straight contests, the leader said, "We have proposed that there should be one-on-one fights on 400 seats, and it should not be difficult for us to win enough seats there. On the remaining 143 seats, contests are inevitable. Most of these 143 seats are in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. From our data, we can see that it will not be smooth wresting these seats from the BJP or its partners."
The leader suggested that the issue of the convenor might be skirted by the bloc for the moment. "The moment someone is appointed as convenor, there would be talk on that he or she would be the PM candidate. We have enough time to select a PM candidate, so it is felt that a coordination committee will be good as a decision-making body, and it will take decisions collectively," the Congress leader said.
The agenda for the alliance, the leader pointed out, would be drafted in such a manner as to be acceptable to all parties given their divergent views and ideologies. "We will concentrate on key issues facing people at the grassroots level. Our priority will be to tackle the increasing prices of essential commodities, unemployment, hate speeches, the agrarian crisis and the situation in public sector undertakings," the leader said.
NCP president Sharad Pawar had indicated on Thursday that a decision on seat distribution would be entrusted to state-level committees, which would be formed after the two-day meeting of the INDIA bloc.
In the run-up to the two-day conclave, there had been much talk about whether the opposition front would have a convenor or declare a common minimum programme. The matter of who would lead the alliance also came up.
NCP founder Sharad Pawar had said at the MVA press meet on Wednesday that the INDIA alliance's priority would be to draft a common minimum programme as early as possible so that after the meeting, leaders of the various parties could go back to their states and launch an action plan for the coming elections. He had said the bloc would provide a formidable alternative to bring about political change.
Asked who the PM candidate of the opposition bloc was, Uddhav Thackeray had said that INDIA had several faces to project while BJP has only one. "The media should ask this question to BJP, which has only one face," he had said. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, when asked a similar question about who the prime ministerial candidate would be, had said on Wednesday, "India will be our PM face." Uddhav had said that all parties part of the bloc have the common objective of protecting democracy.