What is the I.N.D.I Alliance and the Roadmap to 2024 elections ?

INTRODUCTION

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A), is an opposition party announced by the leaders of 28 parties to contest for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This name I.N.D.I.A was proposed during a meeting in Bengaluru and was unanimously adopted by the 28 participating parties and run for the 2024 elections and consequently formed on 18 July, 2023.

However, while some sources attribute the suggestion of the name to Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Indian National Congress (INC), others mention its suggestion by Mamata Banerjee, the Trinomial Congress (TMC) supremo and chief minister of West Bengal, she is the leader of the All India Trinomial Congress (AITC) and a party to the I.N.D.I.A alliance.

Historically, the alliance I.N.D.I.A has held over three successive meetings to lay out their strategies for the implementation of their agendas altogether. These meetings were held in Patna, (Bihar), Bangalaru (Karnataka) and Mumbai (Maharashtra) accordingly which sufficiently raised the focus of the initiative and geared them towards achieving their electoral goals in the 2024 elections.

The alliance comprise of over twenty eight (28) parties and most prominently led by the Indian National Congress (INC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and others in the same. Therefore, it is equally pertinent to note that this alliance is in a strong confrontation from the leading BJP, Modi-led party which is in the equal footing to be elected yet again in the next election.

THE ORGANISATION OF THE I.N.D.I.A PARTY

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance with the acronym I.N.D.I.A, is a big tent political alliance of 28 political parties in India led by the Indian National Congress (INC). The primary objective of the alliance is to take down or overthrow the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and their leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 Indian general elections.

The bloc which was formed on 18 July, 2023 came as a result of series of meetings in different states within India and since then, three consecutive meetings have been conducted starting from the initiation of the Idea till its inscription into the system. The following are some of the three successful meeting held by the bloc and their major outcomes.

The first Meeting in Patna, Bihar for Coordination for unity.

In this meeting, the first Opposition parties meeting was chaired by Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar on 23 June 2023, when the proposal for a new alliance was put on the table. The meeting was attended by over 16 Opposition parties and all of them agreed with the proposal of the new alliance so stated which consequently paved way for the second meeting.

The second Meeting in Bengaluru, Karnataka for Formal formation.

This two days’ second Opposition parties meeting was held in Bengaluru, Karnataka on 17 & 18 July 2023.It was then chaired by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi when the proposal for an alliance was accepted and consequently ten more parties were added to the list. Accordingly, the alliance's name was finalized and given the name Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance and it in this meeting that announcement for the third meeting will be held in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra and the dates were respectively set for the same.

The third Meeting in Mumbai, Maharashtra for Preliminary plans

This third two days’ Opposition parties meeting was held in the city of Mumbai from 31 August to 1 September 2023 respectively. The meeting was hosted by Shiv Sena (UBT) president, as well as Uddhav Thackeray and saw Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and chief ministers of five states in attendance. Over the two-day deliberations, the alliance discussed major electoral issues for the upcoming general elections, carved out the coordination committee, and passed a three point resolution to fight 2024 Indian general elections together 'as far as possible'.

Also the major objective of the formation of this bloc according to the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is that, the alliance's ideology revolves around the principles of develop mentalism, inclusivity, and social justice among others. Besides, by combining their efforts, the member parties aim to protect democratic values, promote social welfare and progress as well as countering what they perceived as an ideology that threatens the idea of India altogether.

It was therefore, formed with the objective of defeating the incumbent BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 Indian general election.

ROAD MAPS SET BY I.N.D.I.A PARTY TO ACE THE 2024 ELECTIONS

In the third and most recent meeting held in Mumbai, Maharashtra, the I.N.D.I.A. alliance parties passed a resolution, resolving to fight the upcoming general elections slated for May 2024 together but with a loaded caveat: ‘as far as possible’. The resolution further reads as “We, the INDIA parties, hereby resolve to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections together as far as possible”.

The resolution passed by a motley collection of opposition parties, that is united not by ideological convergence but by political compulsions, and which identified itself as I.N.D.I.A., an acronym selected to possibly deflect people’s attention from their internal disagreement and dubious antecedents said. In the same resolution, it was also agreed that ‘Seat-sharing arrangements in different states will be initiated immediately and concluded at the earliest in a collaborative spirit of give-and-take,’ the resolution further read, even though it did not offer a resolution for the internecine conflicts and clashes that routinely flare up between regional units of the member parties.

Furthermore, the bloc also vowed to organise public rallies in different parts of the countries on issues of public concern and importance as a way of manoeuvring their ways out for the victory ij the coming elections accordingly. By this they agreed that ‘we, the INDIA parties, hereby resolve to coordinate our respective communications and media strategies and campaigns with the theme “Judega Bharat, Jeetega India” in different languages,’ as concluded in the resolution.

Besides the above resolutions held on Friday, September 1st, the I.N.D.I.A. alliance parties formed further five committees as they passed a resolution in its Mumbai meeting, resolving to fight the upcoming general elections slated for May 2024 together and placed a gravitational caveat - ‘as far as possible’.

As the desperation of the anti-Modi parties to somehow defeat the BJP-led NDA alliance is understandable, the part and bloc decided to include Shivsena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi in its Working Group for Research which is definitely one of the five committees formed. This is to employ her expertise in the field of research and ensure proper and adequate information facilities to the bloc in order to keep alert of the recent happenings in the ground levels altogether. 

These committees formed by the I.N.D.I.A. bloc include the Coordination Committee and Election Strategy Committee, Campaign Committee, Working Group for Media, Working Group for Social Media and then the Working Group for research.

These committees jointly will help addressing various aspects of their election strategy and outreach initiatives accordingly and as per the requirements of the amalgamation. Among these committees, the Coordination Committee and Election Strategy Committee hold a prominent position in the alliance’s preparations for the coming Lok Sabha elections as well as other committees.

Also, Other than Priyanka Chaturvedi, the research committee includes Congress’s Amit Dubey, RJD’s Subodh Mehta, Shiv Sena-UBT’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, NCP’s Vandana Chavan, JD-U’s K.C. Tyagi, JMM’s Sudivya Kumar Sonu, AAP’s Jasmine Shah, Samajwadi Party’s Alok Ranjan, NC’s Imran Nabil Dar, and PDP’s Aditya.

A TMC leader will join the panel later once the party decides. All these high profile committee members shall work jointly together in order to facilitate the success of this bloc in the next election not later than May 2024. Priyanka Chaturvedi’s ‘intellect’ and earth-shattering research skills have always been a subject of discussion over social media and thus earned her that entitlement in the research committee.

CONCLUSION

The India National Development Inclusive Alliance is a bloc or party that comprise of over twenty eight different parties from around other parts of the country. It was established recently on 18 July, 2023 through a two days’ resolution held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

This coalition of parties is aimed at overthrowing the allegedly unsatisfactory BJP led National Developmental Alliance in the coming May 2024 general elections. It has held several meetings, formed different committees to aid their operations and planned for important steps to materialise their operations in pursuit of winning the next elections and taking led off the government in India altogether.