The INDIA bloc parties have scheduled a meeting in mid-December in the capital to move forward on seat-sharing talks, develop a joint narrative, and finalize a joint manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Mamata Banerjee, the chief of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and West Bengal’s Chief Minister, is expected to attend the INDIA bloc meeting, which is likely to be held around December 15-16.

In the midst of signs of discord among the coalition partners since the Congress’ defeat in the three Hindi heartland states, coordination among the party leaders seems to continue. The alliance leaders have been invited to attend the swearing-in of Revanth Reddy as the Chief Minister of Telangana on Thursday, which will be the first government headed by Congress since the creation of the state.

TMC sources said that Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, had called Mamata to invite her for the function. However, as she is touring north Bengal, the TMC chief has deputed Derek O’Brien, the party’s Rajya Sabha leader, to attend the ceremony in Hyderabad on Thursday. Earlier, leaders of several parties disapproved of the Congress’ decision to hold a joint meeting on December 6 at short notice. Nitish Kumar, the chief of Janata Dal United (JDU) and Bihar’s Chief Minister, Akhilesh Singh, the chief of Samajwadi Party (SP), and Mamata had expressed their inability to attend the meeting.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay, a leader of TMC, said that the floor leaders of the INDIA parties have been meeting every morning before the House proceedings to coordinate floor strategy. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a dinner for the floor leaders of the alliance parties at his residence on Wednesday as a prelude to the joint meeting. Bandyopadhyay expressed concern about the negative impact of INDIA alliance partners contesting against each other in the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh, all of which were lost by Congress to BJP. He stated, “The momentum created after three successful meetings of the INDIA bloc has waned due to no activity in the last three months.” TMC MP Saugata Roy emphasized the need for one-on-one fight against BJP through effective seat-sharing and stated, “Regarding seat sharing, the party that is strong in a respective region should get priority.”