Inaugural meeting of Cong's new National Alliance Committee at 11.30 am today
The committee has also been mandated to hold discussions with the Congress's partners in the Opposition bloc -- INDIA
Representative Image
NEW DELHI: The first meeting of the newly formed National Alliance Committee of the Congress will be held in the national capital on Saturday.
The meeting is scheduled to be held at 11.30 am, party sources informed.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the grand old party announced the formation of the new panel to engage like-minded political outfits in discussions for possible alliances going into next year's Lok Sabha elections.
The committee has also been mandated to hold discussions with the Congress's partners in the Opposition bloc -- INDIA --as well as other like-minded partners for the allocation of seats for the crucial electoral battle.
While the partners in the INDIA bloc came together for their fourth meeting recently, in light of the saffron sweep in the heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the potentially prickly issue of seat sharing was left unaddressed.
However, two top alliance leaders -- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal -- proposed Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge as the Bloc's national face opposite Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the next general elections.
"In the run-up to the general election 2024, the Congress president has constituted a National Alliance Committee with immediate effect," the Congress said in a statement.
The members of the National Alliance Committee include senior party leader Mukul Wasnik, former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel.
Former Union Minister Salman Khurshid and senior leader Mohan Prakash are also part of the National Alliance Committee.
The fourth meeting of the INDIA bloc concluded in Delhi on December 19 with the passing of the resolution on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the suspension of MPs from Parliament.
The 28 parties participated in our fourth meeting and kept their thoughts before the committee of the alliance. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that a resolution has been passed that the suspension of MPs is undemocratic.
Kharge also stated that any decision on the prime ministerial candidate would be made after the elections.
INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) parties are seeking to put up a united challenge against the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The first meeting of the joint opposition convened in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. The third meeting happened in Mumbai on August 31-September 1.
In the Mumbai meeting, the opposition parties adopted resolutions to collectively contest the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections while announcing that seat-sharing arrangements would be finalized as soon as possible in a spirit of give-and-take.