The 26 opposition parties present at the meeting revealed the acronym for their coalition, INDIA, which stands for Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance.
The Opposition’s four-hour conference on Tuesday came to an end with the 26 parties announcing the acronym INDIA, which stands for ‘Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance.’
They cast the election of 2024 as a conflict between the BJP and the rest of the nation. According to insiders, the name was chosen even before the leaders met on Tuesday morning.
Although sources claim that a small group of politicians convened following the dinner provided by the Congress, the Opposition leaders stayed silent over who came up with the moniker first.
Among this group, a few names were mentioned. During the “Bharat Jodo Yatra,” former Congress president Rahul Gandhi emphasized the widening gap between “two Indias,” and the Congress wanted the alliance’s name to reflect this.
According to sources, the name struck a chord with the group as a whole, particularly as many believed it was past time for the Opposition to reclaim the “nationalism” platform, which the BJP has been monopolizing.
However, the Trinamool Congress was urged to suggest the name at the conference in line with the Congress’ present goal of not being perceived as an overt driver of the Opposition grouping.
The main focus of the discussions was to choose a name that would effectively contradict the BJP’s “nationalism” narrative, leading to the name INDIA.
Other names that were taken into consideration included “People’s Alliance for India,” “Indian People’s Front,” and “Progressive People’s Alliance.”
Tuesday’s introductory remarks by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge were followed by a statement from Trinamool Congress President and Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee. A high-ranking official claimed that she suggested the name INDIA.
She was cited as declaring that the election was “between the BJP and the rest of India” and not between the BJP and the Opposition.
Later, Mr. Kharge said that “everyone unanimously agreed to the name” at a news conference.
There was discussion on the acronym’s meaning, namely whether “N” should stand for “new” or “national” and “D” should stand for “democratic” or “developmental”.
Many claimed that the use of the word “democratic” would make it seem remarkably similar to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The others argued that the fight for 2024 should focus on exposing the BJP’s “ache din” narrative. They believed that “developmental” would succeed because they emphasized the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor.
According to sources, Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the CPI(M), argued that the Opposition shouldn’t use the word “alliance” just yet because several of the 26 parties would be opposing one another in various States.
It would appear absurd if the members of the “alliance” stood against one another, he remarked, using Kerala as an example where the Left parties would run against the Congress.
He suggested that the Opposition use the name “V4People” instead. However, this was turned down since many people thought it sounded more like a campaign slogan than a name.
Sources claim that the Aam Aadmi Party, whose origins may be traced to the India Against Corruption campaign, has enthusiastically embraced the new moniker.
According to sources, Rahul Gandhi, the former president of the Congress, advocated “passionately” for this moniker because the Opposition needed to reclaim the “nationalism” platform that the BJP had been utilizing. Udhav Thackeray, a former chief minister of Maharashtra, “Jiske liye ladh rahe hai uske naam par ladenge (we will fight in the name of what we are fighting for).”
Another leader of the opposition joked that the name effectively ended the “Modi versus who?” issue. India is now up against Modi.
Numerous leaders expressed their concern that the Hindi belt would not respond to the term INDIA because it is too English.
They further claimed that Hindi and other regional languages do not accurately translate the acronym. But these arguments were disregarded.
