INDIA bloc logo to be unveiled at Opposition alliance's 3rd meeting in Mumbai
Common minimum programme discussion on cards at event
Mumbai (PTI): The third meeting of the opposition bloc INDIA will begin here on Thursday to discuss its strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha elections due next year and inclusion of new allies.
Along with talks on strategy and inclusion of new allies, unveiling of the INDIA bloc logo and discussion on the common minimum programme (CMP) will be the highlight of the two-day deliberations.
As many as 63 representatives from 28 political parties will attend the meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Thursday and Friday at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Mumbai.
The third meeting of the opposition bloc is hosted by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the three-party alliance of the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar.
The alliance leaders are getting together for the third round of the brainstorming session here, after Patna and Bengaluru, to chalk out their common campaign strategy to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The alliance would announce a coordination committee, which could be of 11 members from principal opposition parties.
The opposition alliance is also likely to hold discussions on whether to have a convenor or not and whether there will be some sub-groups to handle seat sharing, agitational joint programmes and communication strategy.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah, former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and CPI general secretary D Raja have already arrived in Mumbai.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will arrive on Thursday.
An informal meeting of all the leaders will take place followed by a dinner hosted by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, where the visiting leaders will get to savour the traditional Maharashtrian food, including 'Puran Poli', and also a mix of North and South Indian dishes.
Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who is heading the organising committee of the INDIA alliance meet, on Wednesday said the meeting in Mumbai was significant as Maharashtra has shown the country a way forward in the independence movement, industrial and social revolutions.
He said the INDIA alliance has developmental agenda and has taken on the challenge to stop fascist forces.
The opposition INDIA bloc has exuded confidence that it would provide a formidable alternative to bring political change in the country and asserted that it has several prime ministerial faces against BJP's only one.
The opposition alliance has also expanded its ambit to 28 parties by including two regional outfits - the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP), a Marxist political party in Maharashtra, and another regional outfit.
Mamata Banerjee on her arrival in Mumbai tied Rakhi on Thackeray and Amitabh Bachchan on Wednesday.
To a query on who will be the INDIA alliance PM candidate, Mamata Banerjee said, "India will be our PM face. Our primary concern is to save the country," she said.
Addressing a press conference here, NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said he has confidence that the opposition alliance will provide a formidable alternative to bring about a political change in the country.
He said there has been no discussion on seat sharing within the INDIA alliance.
Former chief minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the alliance of opposition parties belonging to different ideologies has the common objective of protecting democracy and 'Bharat Mata'.
On the INDIA alliance PM face, Thackeray said, "We have a lot of choices, the question is what choice the BJP has."
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Explosion near CRPF School in Delhi caused by lit cigarette butts: Report
New Delhi: The investigation team that probed the explosion that took place outside the CRPF School in the Prashant Vihar area of the city on October 20 morning has reportedly not found any terror force behind the blast.
The investigation team, consisting of Delhi Police and staff members from central agencies, has stated in its report that cigarette butts thrown by a local resident might have come in contact with industrial waste and have caused the explosion. Circumstantial evidence does not show the incident to have a terror angle to it, reports The Indian Express.
The Delhi Police, the city bomb squad and the fire brigade had rushed to the spot following the explosion, which was initially believed to have been caused by a crude bomb. The forensic experts who inspected the spot hinted at the presence of potassium chlorate, hydrogen peroxide and some electrical wires there. The school wall had been damaged and the windows of a car nearby had shattered in the explosion.
The investigation team scanned the CCTV camera footage and zeroed in on around 10 people questioned. A senior police officer said that a North Delhi-based businessman from Prashant Vihar was found to be present at the spot around five minutes before the explosion, as he had come there on Sunday morning to walk his dog. The CCTV footage showed him smoking and, after questioning him, the team concluded that he had left lit cigarette butts before leaving the spot, the officer added.
The spot where the explosion took place is learned to have been usually used for dumping garbage and also has a public urinal.
An officer has said that the Delhi Police had consulted forensic and technical experts of the National Security Guard regarding the things found on the explosion site but are yet to get the report. The officer added that they have found no detonator so far.
