INDIA coordination committee's first meeting on Sept 16-17, say sources

MUMBAI: Even as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Friday announced a 14 member coordination committee, it's first meeting will take place in the second week of this month, sources said.

According to the sources, the meeting of the INDIA alliance coordination committee will take pace on September 16 and 17, once former Congress president Rahul Gandhi returns from his three-nation European tour.

The sources said that soon some Congress secretaries will be appointed to assist in the work.

They said that the 14 member coordination committee will be the highest decision making body of the INDIA alliance and it will start the discussion on seat sharing in the states.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and DMK's TR Baalu will lead the coordination committee till the time a national convenor is decided, said the sources.

The INDIA bloc on Friday announced the 14 member coordination committee with Venugopal, Pawar, Baalu, JMM's Hemant Soren, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, RJD's Tejashvi Yadav, Trinamool Congress' Abhishek Banerjee, AAP's Raghav Chaddha, Samajwadi Party's Javed Ali Khan, JD-U's Lallan Singh, CPI's D Raja, National Conference's Omar Abdullah, PDP's Mehbooba Mufti as its members.

The CPI-M will give the name of their party leader for the committee later.

The sources added that during the informal meeting on Thursday night, Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee informed the leaders that she was battling the BJP all alone in her state and if she is given an opportunity then she can lead in the role of convenor.

The sources said that Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar too told the leaders that he had initiated the talks for bringing all the like minded parties together for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and he too is ready for all the responsibilities he will be given.

The two-day third meeting of the INDIA alliance took place here with 63 leaders from 28 parties participating. They discussed several issues to take on the BJP in next year's crucial Lok Sabha polls.