INDIA Meet: First meeting of the coordination committee, discussion on seat distribution; First public meeting in Bhopal

The first meeting of the 14-member coordination committee of the opposition India alliance was held today at the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar in New Delhi. After the meeting, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said that the coordination committee has decided to start the process to determine seat-sharing. It was decided in the meeting that the allies would hold talks and take a decision as soon as possible. The first public meeting of the alliance will be held in Bhopal in the first week of October.

Before the meeting, committee member and AAP MP Raghav Chadha had said that issues like reaching out to people, planning joint rallies and running door-to-door campaigns would be discussed. Chadha said, to make this alliance successful, every political party will have to give up three things: ambition, differences and discord.

Abhishek Banerjee of Trinamool Congress did not attend the meeting. The Enforcement Directorate had called him to appear today itself. CPM will also not participate in the meeting, as it has not yet nominated any member for the committee. JDU National President Lalan Singh did not attend the coordination committee meeting of India Alliance due to ill health. In his place, JDU leader and Bihar minister Sanjay Kumar Jha attended the meeting.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray met NCP president Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Tuesday evening ahead of the first meeting of the coordination committee of the opposition alliance India. The meeting between the two leaders lasted for about 90 minutes at Power's 'Silver Oak' residence in South Mumbai. NCP leader Jayant Patil and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut were also present in the meeting. He told the media that during this meeting, the meeting of the coordination panel of India Alliance and the current political situation in Maharashtra was discussed.

Regarding the meeting of the coordination committee of the India alliance, NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said that the opposition alliance has performed very well in the by-elections held on seven seats. India alliance is coming together strongly. We will win more seats in the coming time.