NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Friday met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to chalk out the plan forward for the opposition alliance INDIA and the prospect of both the parties as well their third partner Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena in Maharashtra as MVA coalition.
A day earlier Pawar had said after Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, the former Congress chief was being taken seriously and someday he would provide leadership to the nation.
Sources said the three top leaders discussed the current political situation including the unleashing of the probing agencies like ED, IT, CBI against the opposition members which includes Parliamentarians treated as criminals.
The meeting lasted around 40 minutes where they also chalked out plans for the next meeting of the INDIA bloc. Some opposition leaders are suggesting that the next meeting of be held in West Bengal while Delhi is already on the discussion.
The first meeting of Opposition leaders was convened by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at Patna followed by second meeting at Bengaluru where the alliance name as INDIA was coined and the third held last month in Mumbai.
After the meeting with Pawar, Kharge later posted pictures of his meeting with Pawar on social media and stated the meeting was to further raise the voice of the people of the country. “We are ready for every challenge,” he said while using INDIA bloc’s tagline - ‘Judega Bharat, Jeetega INDIA (India will unite, INDIA will win),” Kharge mentioned.
Pawar also posted his pictures of the meeting on social media and said, “Paid a courtesy visit to INC President MP Malikarjun Kharge at his residence. MP Rahul Gandhi, NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad and Gurdeep Sappal, INC CWC Member were also present for the meeting.”
The leaders also discussed Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) nine-member coordination committee, consisting of three leaders from each constituent, to discuss seat-sharing in Maharashtra for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Maharashtra, which has 48 Lok Sabha seats is the second highest after Uttar Pradesh (80) and the India alliance is looking for a better show. MVA allies have agreed that winnability should be the criteria for distribution of Lok Sabha constituencies. Congress will hold a region-wise review of all the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state from October 7 to October 12
Friday’s discussions come after a joint public meeting of the INDIA alliance in Bhopal in October was cancelled. It could not be held following opposition by Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath over statements by DMK leaders, including Udhayanidhi Stalin, against ‘Sanatan Dharma’.