The coordination committee of the opposition bloc INDIA held its first meeting at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar here on Wednesday.
Eleven leaders of the 14-member panel of the opposition were present in the meeting which is being held under the shadow of a row over DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remark on the Sanatan Dharma.
They are likely to discuss the seat-sharing formulae for different states and a broad campaign strategy for the alliance.
The leaders present at the meeting are: NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Congress’ KC Venugopal, CPI’s D Raja, SP’s Jawed Ali Khan, DMK’s TR Baalu, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, AAP MP Raghav Chadha, JD-U’s Sanjay Jha, NC leader Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut.
Three members of the panel including JMM leader Hemant Soren, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee could not attend the meeting for different reasons.
Sources said that leaders of several opposition parties have sought an early seat-sharing formula to be worked out to ensure that a joint opposition candidate is put up against BJP candidates in Lok Sabha seats.
However, several leaders said that the parties have to “shed their egos” and “vested interests” in arriving at such a formula.
While no decision has been taken on the criteria, it is likely to be based on the performance of parties on a particular seat in recent polls.
