INDIA bloc's Mumbai meet starts Thursday, leaders to deliberate on concrete roadmap for 2024 polls

Mumbai: As many as 63 representatives from 28 political parties will attend the two-day conclave of the opposition INDIA bloc here on Thursday evening and are likely to announce a coordination committee as well as unveil a logo for the alliance.

Ahead of the crucial third round of discussions, the alliance on Wednesday exuded confidence that it would provide a formidable alternative to bring political change in the country and asserted that it has several prime ministerial faces, unlike the BJP.

The opposition alliance also expanded its ambit to 28 parties by including two regional outfits -- the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP), a Marxist political party in Maharashtra, and another regional outfit.

The alliance leaders are getting together for the third round of the brainstorming session here, after Patna and Bengaluru, to chalk out their common campaign strategy to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The opposition alliance is likely to announce a coordination committee, which could consist of 11 members from principal opposition parties, and will unveil a logo for the bloc.

It is also likely to hold discussions on whether to have a convenor or not and whether there will be some sub-groups to handle seat sharing, agitational joint programmes, communication strategy and chalk out the common minimum programme.

Several chief ministers and senior leaders including Mamata Banerjee, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad have already arrived in Mumbai besides former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah.

Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann will arrive on Thursday.

Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge will also land in Mumbai on Thursday, after which they will attend a dinner hosted by former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Ahead of the dinner, there will be a meeting among the leaders in an informal setting.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress has formed several committees to plan various aspects of the meeting of the opposition bloc.

This is the first meeting of the opposition INDIA alliance in a state where none of the bloc members are in power. Unity would be the key focus of the meeting.