The alliance of the opposition parties, INDIA bloc, will be meeting on June 1, 2024 to discuss the future course of action ahead of the Lok Sabha results on June 4. However, one of the prominent figures of the opposition leaders, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, will not attend the June 1 meeting as the last phase of voting in West Bengal will take place on the same day.
During an election rally in Kolkata, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday said, “The INDIA bloc earlier said they would hold a meeting on June 1. I told them I wouldn’t come as we will still have polls here like a few other states. How can I go when there is a cyclone and relief operations going on the one hand and elections on the other?”
Previously, Banerjee stated that the TMC would support the INDIA alliance from the outside. However, she later changed her stance, asserting that the coalition is her brainchild and that she is very much a part of it.
On Monday, Banerjee cited relief work in the cyclone-affected area as her priority, saying, “My focus is ensuring relief for people. I am holding a meeting here but my heart lies with the affected people.”
The first INDIA bloc meeting was held in Patna on June 23 last year, followed by the second gathering in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18. The third meeting took place on August 31 and September 1, during which the opposition alliance members resolved to contest the ongoing Lok Sabha elections unitedly. The fourth meeting was held in Delhi on December 19. Opposition leaders reconvened in Delhi on March 31 for the ‘Save Democracy’ rally, protesting the arrests of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. A similar ‘Ulgulan’ rally was held in Ranchi on April 21.
Twenty-eight opposition parties initially formed the INDIA bloc, but some parties, including Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, later switched to the NDA.