Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Saturday that an INDIA bloc meeting is likely to take place in Delhi on September 30 at the Constitution Club. The gathering is intended to address issues related to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and to chart a coordinated course for the opposition.
Banerjee spoke to a crowd at a rally in Serampore, Hooghly district, where she conveyed a message to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urging the opposition parties to sit together. Her remarks came amid nationwide protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and criticism of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The proposed meeting will focus on the opposition’s strategy for dealing with the ECI and the SIR exercise. Sources say the discussion will also cover the next steps against the functioning of the Election Commission and the controversies surrounding the SIR initiative.
In addition to her public address, Banerjee reportedly spoke with Rahul Gandhi over the phone and urged him to convene the INDIA bloc meeting as soon as possible. She also had a conversation with CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby, indicating a broad attempt to unify opposition voices ahead of the Delhi meeting.
