Opposition alliance to hold first meeting, discuss strategy for Parliament’s monsoon session

New Delhi: The first meeting of opposition alliance INDIA will be held on Thursday to chalk out a joint strategy for the monsoon session of Parliament. Sources said the meeting will be held in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

“The meeting has been called to discuss the issues to be taken up in Parliament from day one of the monsoon session,” an opposition party leader.

The monsoon session of Parliament will begin on July 20 and conclude on August 11. Twenty-six opposition parties on Tuesday formed a coalition --Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)-- to unitedly take on the ruling NDA with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asserting that the fight will be “between INDIA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

The strategy to be followed by INDIA opposition grouping in Parliament was a point of discussion at the two-day opposition meeting in Bengaluru that concluded on Tuesday, sources said. All party leaders unanimously decided to coordinate on issues that they want to take up against the government in Parliament, the sources said.

The 26 parties have a combined strength of about 150 seats in Lok Sabha, as against over 330 of the NDA, and are in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states.

The 26 opposition parties are --the Congress, TMC, DMK, AAP, JD(U), RJD, JMM, NCP (Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT), SP, NC, PDP, CPI(M), CPI, RLD, MDMK, Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK), VCK, RSP, CPI-ML (Liberation), Forward Bloc, IUML, Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Mani), Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), and the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK).

11 political parties with 91 MPs remain on fence as BJP, Cong sew alliances

While 65 parties have joined either the BJP or the Congress-led coalition, there are at least 11 more with a total 91 members in Parliament who have chosen to stay neutral for now in the high-stakes general elections next year.

Three of the fence-sitters rule fairly large states – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha that together send 63 members to Lok Sabha -- where the Congress or other opposition parties have been pushed to the margins.

The Congress and 25 other opposition parties on Wednesday unveiled the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the BJP-led NDA, which now has 39 parties. (PTI)