A “difference of opinion” has surfaced in the Opposition INDIA bloc over the venue for its fourth meeting. The Congress is insistent that the meeting should take place in a city within the poll-bound States of Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh.
However, INDIA bloc parties like the Samajwadi Party, the JD(U), the NCP, and others are advocating for the meeting to be held in Delhi, sources said.
According to sources, the Samajwadi Party has cited their reasons for the choice of venue, arguing that it should not create an impression that the Congress, as the grand old party, is attempting to assume an elder brother role in the Opposition alliance.
The Congress sources have refuted this argument, emphasising that any victory by a member of the coalition will undoubtedly bolster and contribute to the success of the INDIA bloc.
The Opposition bloc has so far conducted three meetings with the first at Patna, coordinated by senior JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, followed by Bengaluru where the Congress wrested power from the BJP this year, and then at Mumbai under arrangements by the MVA alliance partners — the Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena.
During the alliance’s meeting in Mumbai, there was a general consensus that the forthcoming gathering of the INDIA bloc should take place in Bhopal, coinciding with the inaugural joint public rally featuring leaders from various Opposition parties.
In the first coordination meeting of the INDIA bloc, the discussion revolved around organising the third meeting in the national Capital, with coordination led by AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
However, soon after the coordination committee meeting at NCP leader Sharad Pawar’s residence in Delhi where it was announced that a joint rally will be held at Bhopal, it stood cancelled at the backdrop of massive controversy over the Sanatan Dharma row fuelled by its alliance partner DMK leaders.
“The modalities and date of the meeting are yet to be finalised, however, it is likely that it can be held sometime in the first fortnight of October. Delhi was also considered among the venues in the last meeting but Bhopal remains the preferred one for many leaders,” said a top Congress source.
In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress emerged victorious in the previous Assembly elections and held the Government for a year and a half.
However, it faced a setback when a faction of its party MLAs defected to the BJP, resulting in the formation of a new Government. The State is set to hold elections later this year, alongside neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, both of which currently have Congress-led Governments.
Just as the Samajwadi Party and the JD(U) expressed their dissatisfaction with the media boycott call by the INDIA bloc, these same parties are now opposing the Congress’ initiative to host the fourth meeting in the Lake City of Madhya Pradesh. The alliance members believe that the grand old party has a stronger electoral advantage in the Assembly polls there.
“The Congress attitude is still the elder brother type. They did in the media boycott call and we had to rally behind it,” a JD(U) leader told The Pioneer over phone from Patna.
Already Nitish seems to be increasingly out of sync with the RJD on its “backward versus forward” politics.
