This is the first meeting of the INDIA Alliance Coordination Committee.
The INDIA opposition alliance has “agreed to raise the issue of caste census,” Congress leader KC Venugopal said on Wednesday evening after the bloc’s coordination committee met in Delhi. The group, which has come together to present a united opposition front ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections, will also “initiate the process of deciding the seat distribution”, he said.
Only twelve of the fourteen parties from the bloc’s highest decision-making body were present today. The biggest absentee was the Trinamool Congress, whose candidate – Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee – was today “conveniently” summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in appointments in government schools.
READ | “Convenient…”: Abhishek Banerjee Slams Agency summons on the day of INDIA Meet
Mr Banerjee’s absence was significant as his party had refused to support the bloc’s intention to push the government to conduct a caste census; Trinamool chief and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were against adding this demand to a joint political resolution, sources told NDTV.
READ | Caste count divides INDIA bloc, political resolution dropped
Without the Trinamool’s presence, INDIA now decided to push for a caste census and speak to the party later – a decision that will almost certainly not go down well with Ms Banerjee.
“The parties present at the meeting agreed to raise the issue of caste census,” INDIA said, while also terming Banerjee’s absence as “vendetta politics”.
“Abhishek Banerjee… could not attend the meeting due to a summons from the Enforcement Directorate, arising out of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s vendetta policy.”
About the caste census
After the July meeting, INDIA passed a resolution calling for such a census; all sides flagged “hatred and violence against minorities” and called for “a fair hearing for all socially, educationally and economically backward communities… implement the caste census as a first step.”
A caste-based survey is being conducted by the Bihar government under the leadership of the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, both of whom are INDIA members. Prime Minister Nitish Kumar has termed it a move that will help the underprivileged and was endorsed by the Patna High Court last month.
The feasibility of a caste census is now being debated before the Supreme Court.
About seat sharing in INDIA
“The coordination committee decided to start the process of determining the distribution of seats. It was decided that the affiliated parties would hold talks and make a decision at the earliest,” the bloc said.
INDIA contested its first elections last week: seven bypolls in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Kerala, Bengal and Jharkhand. Eyebrows were raised after it was revealed that the bloc would fight each other on three of these seats – in Kerala, Bengal and Uttarakhand.
READ |Congress and Trinamool win in key polls as INDIA allies battle each other
Overall, the bloc recorded a 4-3 victory over the BJP, but questions about the level of unity within refused to go away, and could be magnified by supporting a caste census, despite the objection of an affiliated party.
After the Mumbai meeting, INDIA had said it plans to contest future elections together, but immediately added a caveat saying this would be “…as far as possible”.
Media blackout?
Meanwhile, the opposition group has also formed a subcommittee to select news organizations to boycott; “…sub-group for Media to decide on the names of the presenters to whose shows none of the INDIA parties will send their representatives,” their statement said.
