NEW DELHI: The Opposition INDIA alliance, getting into poll mode, may begin its campaign on October 2, on Gandhi Jayanti. After its two-day brainstorming in Mumbai, the next step will be to begin public outreach from the first week of October, said a senior leader. On Saturday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also said that the Opposition grouping will hold a nationwide programme on October 2. He added that seat-sharing was not an issue within the bloc and discussions on the same will begin soon.
The bloc added seven more members to the different committees constituted after the Mumbai meeting.
While DMK MP Tiruchi Siva and PDP’s Mehboob Beg are included in the campaign committee, DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran and RLD’s Rohit Jakhad were incorporated in the working group for social media. The working group for media was further expanded by adding DMK’s Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and Congress leader Pawan Khera. Besides that, DMK leader A Raja was selected for the working group for research.
A press release issued by the bloc said that the expansion is in accordance with the decisions taken at the INDIA meeting held in Mumbai.
The campaign committee of 21 members will meet soon and firm up the agenda for the bloc at the earliest, said a senior leader, who is a member of the campaign committee. The bloc is likely to unveil its agenda on October 2 on issues such as unemployment and price rise, among a host of others.
“We felt that the next crucial step should be taking issues to the people. We have plans to hold public meetings in five or six states from the first week of October. We will raise important matters of public concern in our rallies and programmes. We will raise a host of crucial issues,” the leader said.
INDIA pushes Pawar into middle of National Politics
After a long hiatus, NCP chief Sharad Pawar is back at centre stage of national politics as the crisis manager and troubleshooter for the INDIA alliance, the group of 28 ideologically diverse political parties. The 83-year-old has been appointed as a member of the national coordination and strategy committee. He is the seniormost in the 14-member committee, which has a mix of experienced leaders and young faces. Highly-placed sources said the alliance has consciously decided to give the seniormost and seasoned politicians like Sharad Pawar a free hand while dealing any critical and contentious issues.