‘Don’t use ‘dots’ in between the letters of INDIA,’ spokespersons of opposition alliance told | India News

NEW DELHI: The leaders of opposition alliance which has been named INDIA have instructed its spokespersons to refer to the coalition as “INDIA Alliance” or “Team INDIA” and not use “dots” in between the letters of INDIA which stands for “Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.”

The INDIA partners are focussing on the third round of meeting of the opposition leaders in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1. Forming the 11-member coordination committee and four smaller committees with specific charges, is the immediate priority, said sources.
One of the first things is to create common social media platforms like a Twitter handle for INDIA, to reach out to people as Team INDIA, to build a common narrative, to counter the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led ruling BJP and NDA. During the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha for the last three days, the alliance parties have been sharing three-minute videos of their members from each other’s handles to ensure maximum and joint outreach.

Working on state-wise captains, that is to identify the nodal leader for states where there are coalition governments in place, is an important task for members of INDIA. For instance, in Maharashtra the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackaray) leadership will wear the captain’s hat, while in Bihar it will be chief minister Nitish Kumar and in Tamil Nadu it will be chief minister M K Stalin, according to sources.
A major issue for the alliance is to campaign against the ECI Bill, related to the composition of the selection committee for appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) that government has introduced in Rajya Sabha. The Bill aims to amend the selection panel by replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union minister. That would naturally tilt the three-member panel heavily towards the government, as the other two are the Prime Minister and the leader of opposition. “With this Bill, BJP wants to turn the Election Commission of India into a private agency of a party. They started to do this because their (projected) numbers have dropped below 200 (in Lok Sabha),” said TMC leader in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien.
The Opposition parties are drafting a resolution that they plan to bring jointly against Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar in the Winter session, when they also plan to get more aggressive in the House for serving notices and suspending their members by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chairs respectively. The resolution needs a 14-day notice in the House.
With a slew of assembly elections coming up later this year, the INDIA parties plan to hold at least two other meeting of its leaders before Diwali, to chalk out their joint strategies to take on the Modi government, it is learnt.
The bonhomie between Team INDIA parties was also evident from the fact that 20 members from different parties went for a screening of a new film “Rocky aur Rani ki Prem Kahani.