Insult to injury: Major allies wriggle out of I.N.D.I.A meet in Delhi as BJP sweeps MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh

Congress’s humiliation seems to have no end in sight as close on heels of disastrous drubbing in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections 2023, key leaders of the INDI Alliance have declined to attend the bloc meeting which party chief Mallikarjun Kharge had convened for 6 December. DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin cited the grave situation obtaining in the state owing to cyclone Michaung. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, however, seems to have ducked on account of “prior commitments”. Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee have also confirmed that they won’t be attending the forthcoming INDI Alliance meeting. Power equation in I.N.D.I.A has shifted The upcoming I.N.D.I.A bloc meeting will be different, said sources, as Congress won’t be able to dictate terms within the alliance after the Assembly elections 2023 results were declared on Sunday (3 November). There was already rift and differences between other alliance partners and the Congress as the party did not agree with seat sharing with Samajwadi Party (SP), Left, CPI, CPI(M) in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh. Alliance partners were also angry as number of members asked the Congress, throughout the run-up and during election process, to hold general meeting, coordination committee and campaign committee meeting, but they were denied. Congress can’t dictate A senior leader told News18, “The Congress, now, clearly cannot dictate their own terms. There should be a coordination between all the parties together.” The meeting is also expected to witness a debate on who is going to lead the INDI alliance. The bloc members also said they would be coming up with an alternative vision after things did not work in Congress’ favour on ground despite announcing a number of schemes. Congress’ foot-print in north India has been gradually washing off with the party only holding the helm in Himachal Pradesh. The party has been wiped out in the Hindu heartland. There has been rage in the I.N.D.I.A bloc whose activities were stalled by the Congress well ahead of the Assembly elections 2023. With results going against Congress’ favour, Kharge took to X and mentioned the INDI alliance in his first response, saying, “The Congress Party participated in the elections of these four states with full force. I express my gratitude to our countless workers. Without getting disheartened by this defeat, we, along with INDIA parties, have to start preparing for the Lok Sabha elections with double enthusiasm." Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or I.N.D.I.A, is a coalition of political parties led by the Indian National Congress (INC) that has been constituted to take on the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. It was formed during an opposition party meeting in Bengaluru in July 2023.