Opposition parties name grand alliance 'INDIA'

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Delhi CM and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and others during opposition parties' meet. Photo: PTI

Bengaluru: Leaders of 26 Opposition parties, who got together here to discuss strategy ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has named the alliance Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or INDIA .

Earlier, in his inaugural  address, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party was not interested in power or the post of prime minister.

"Our intention in this meeting is not to gain power for ourselves. It is to protect our Constitution, democracy, secularism and social justice," he said.

He admitted to differences among opposition parties at the state level but noted that these are not ideological.

"These differences are not so big that we cannot put them behind us for the sake of the common man and middle class which is suffering due to inflation, for the sake of our youth who are suffering from unemployment, for the sake of the poor, Dalits, adivasis and the minorities whose rights are being crushed silently behind the scenes," the Congress chief said.

"The BJP did not get 303 seats by itself. It used the votes of its allies and came to power and then discarded them. Today, the BJP president and its leaders are running from state to state to patch up with their old allies," he said.

List of parties attending the meet

1. Indian National Congress
2. All India Trinamool Congress (TMC)
3. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
4. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
5. Janata Dal (United)
6. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
7. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)
8. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar Group
9. Shiv Sena (UBT)
10. Samajwadi Party (SP)
11. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)
12. Apna Dal (Kamerawadi)
13. Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (NC)
14. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
15. Communist Party of India (Marxist)
16. Communist Party of India (CPI)
17. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation
18. Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP)
19. All India Forward Bloc
20. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK)
21. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK)
22. Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK)
23. Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK)
24. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)
25. Kerala Congress (M)
26. Kerala Congress (Joseph)
(With PTI inputs)

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