INDIA bloc discussed seat-sharing, cast census at panel meet

The Opposition alliance, INDIA, will hold its first public meeting in Bhopal in the first week of October. This announcement came after the INDIA bloc's Coordination Committee held its first meeting on Wednesday.According to a joint statement issued by the Opposition alliance, the public meeting will focus on the "issues of rising prices, unemployment and corruption of the BJP government". The meeting of the 13-member panel of the Opposition took place at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar in Delhi.The Coordination Committee also discussed various issues, including seat-sharing for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The INDIA opposition alliance has "agreed to take up the issue of caste census", Congress leader KC Venugopal said after the bloc's coordination committee met in Delhi. The group, banded together to present a united opposition front ahead of next year's Lok Sabha election, will also "start process for determining seat-sharing", he said.The opposition group has also formed a sub-committee to select news organisations to boycott; "... sub-group on Media to decide upon the names of the anchors on whose shows none of the INDIA parties will send their representatives," their statement said.
The coordination cum election strategy committee of the opposition's INDIA bloc has 13 members - KC Venugopal (Congress), TR Baalu (DMK), Hemant Soren (JMM), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena-UBT), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Raghav Chadha (AAP), Javed Ali Khan (SP), Lalan Singh (JD-U), D Raja (CPI), Omar Abdullah (National Conference), Mehbooba Mufti (PDP), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), and a member from CPI-M. Abhishek Banerjee, who was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate to appear before it on Wednesday, did not attend the Coordination Committee's meeting.