Bengaluru: It’s going to be “a battle between NDA and INDIA” in 2024, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a meeting of 26 opposition parties here on Tuesday as they unanimously adopted a proposal to name their coalition as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
The original suggestion was to call it “Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance”, but the word “democratic” was replaced with “developmental” after some leaders said it sounded too similar to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), sources said.
It was also discussed if the word “national” should be dropped, but it was finally decided to retain it, they said.
While some leaders said TMC chief Banerjee suggested the “INDIA” name and Rahul Gandhi agreed to it, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate noted it was Gandhi who came up with the nomenclature.
Sources said that a tagline to the name “INDIA”, preferably in Hindi, will soon be finalised.
While “INDIA” name first came up during the informal dinner Monday night, sources indicated that it took time to decide on the full nomenclature. In fact, a senior leader said, the name was decided at the fag end of the official deliberations.
The opposition leaders also deliberated on some other names, but “INDIA” was finalised after a consensus.
One such suggestion was to call the coalition “India’s Main Front (IMF)”. Some other suggested names were “Indian People’s Front”, “Indian Progressive Front” and “We For India”.
Sources said when a leader mentioned “We For India”, Rahul Gandhi remarked, “We should go for ‘INDIA'”. Gandhi was the last speaker at the meeting.
According to the sources, when the “INDIA” name was suggested by Mamata Banerjee who was the first speaker at the meeting, some leaders favoured other names but finally all of them agreed on it.
“It will be NDA vs INDIA. It will be BJP vs INDIA,” she said, according to sources.
The fact that Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi were on the same page also reflected during their respective remarks made during a joint press conference later.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi as “our favourite”, Banerjee explained the reason behind naming the alliance “INDIA”.
The warmth between the two was seen during the conference as Gandhi offered her some refreshments kept on the table which she smilingly accepted.
Setting the tone for their 2024 Lok Sabha poll campaign, the 26 opposition parties on Tuesday formed the coalition to unitedly take on the BJP-led NDA.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge chaired the closed-door meeting and was flanked by Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi to his right and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to his left, sources said.
Referring to the name of the alliance, Banerjee said, “BJP, can you challenge INDIA? We love our motherland, we are the patriotic people of the country, we are for farmers, Dalits, we are for the country, for the world.”
The only job the regime at the Centre does today is to buy and sell governments, she alleged.
“INDIA will win, our country will win and BJP will lose,” Banerjee said.
Gandhi said the fight was not between the opposition parties and the BJP, but it was a “fight for the idea of India that was being attacked”.
“That is why this name was chosen. Fight is between NDA and INDIA, between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and INDIA, between their (the BJP’s) ideology and INDIA. You know what happens when someone stands against India, who wins,” the former Congress chief said.
“We (opposition parties) are defending the Indian Constitution, voice of the people and the idea of our great county. You know what happens to those who fight the idea of India. This is the fight between the idea of India and the BJP,” Gandhi said.
Earlier, Gandhi was seen helping Kharge on stage and even offering water to NCP chief Sharad Pawar when he suddenly broke into a coughing bout.
While Sonia Gandhi was not present during the presser, in the meeting she thanked all the leaders for attending the meet and also said that there was a job to be done and that “we must do it together.”
Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said that the BJP was destroying the country and an alliance like “INDIA” was needed to fight back, endorsing the name.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who was accompanied to the meeting by his son Aditya Thackeray, suggested that a Hindi tagline to the name “INDIA” should be finalised.
Sources also said that during the meeting RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav reprimanded leaders of some opposition parties who have been critical of each other in the days leading to the meet and said that such comments should be avoided.
During the meeting, it was also decided that the opposition parties will be united in the upcoming Parliament session and strategise together in order to take on the BJP. It was also decided that the opposition campaign will be driven in the states by those parties which had the most numbers.
The next meeting of the parties is scheduled to be held in Mumbai after the monsoon session of Parliament, which is scheduled to conclude on August 11.
In the next meeting, two crucial aspects are to be covered — finalising the names of the convener and members of the 11-member coordination committee and seat-sharing among the parties that are currently at loggerheads in many states.
(PTI)

Press Trust of India