INDIA gears up for Assembly polls, first joint rally in Bhopal in Oct

New Delhi, NT Bureau: Opposition INDIA bloc on Wednesday decided to hold their first joint public meeting in Bhopal in pollbound Madhya Pradesh in the first week of October, and said the constituent parties will start seat-sharing talks at the earliest.

They said they will raise issues related to rising prices, unemployment, corruption and caste census. This was decided at the first meeting of the coordination committee of the INDIA grouping which was held at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar here.

Twelve leaders of the 14-member panel were present in the meeting that took place under the shadow of a row over DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remark on the Sanatan Dharma.

"The coordination committee decided to start the process of determining the seat-sharing. It was decided that the member parties will hold the talks and decide (seat-sharing) at the earliest," Venugopal said, reading out from a joint statement.

He said the committee also decided to hold joint public meetings in different parts of the country.

He also said the coordination committee authorised the sub-group of media to decide upon the names of the anchors on whose shows none of the INDIA parties will send their representatives.