Ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday announced that the 26-party alliance would be called as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attend the second day of the joint Opposition meeting, in Bengaluru.
The next meeting of the parties is scheduled to be held in Mumbai after the monsoon session of Parliament, which is scheduled to conclude on August 11. The alliance also demanded the implementation of the caste census while asserting that they have come together to defeat the “hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities” as well as “rising crimes against women, Dalits, tribals and Kashmiri Pandits”.
Meanwhile, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that it’s going to be “a battle between NDA and INDIA” in 2024.

According to the sources, when the “INDIA” name was suggested by Mamata Banerjee who was the first speaker at the meeting, some leaders favoured other names but finally all of them agreed on it.

Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said that the BJP was destroying the country and an alliance like “INDIA” was needed to fight back, endorsing the name, while ex-Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who was accompanied to the meeting by his son Aditya Thackeray, suggested that a Hindi tagline to the name “INDIA” should be finalised.
Non-BJP leaders of 26 parties came together for the second meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday to stitch a united alliance against the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Kharge chaired the closed-door meeting and was flanked by Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi to his right and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to his left, sources said.

Over 50 leaders from different parties attended the informal discussion on Monday following which Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hosted a dinner. Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar has been assigned to overlook the preparations for the meeting. The second meeting comes just a month after the mega Opposition meet in Patna convened by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Initially scheduled to be held at Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, it was moved to Bengaluru due to the weather conditions in the hill state. After the meeting concluded, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that like-minded opposition parties will work together to foster an agenda of social justice, inclusive development and national welfare.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA has also announced a big huddle in New Delhi on July 18, where nearly 38 parties joined.