INDIA bloc’s first joint public rally in Bhopal early next month

Opposition INDIA bloc on Wednesday decided to hold their first joint public meeting in Bhopal in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh in the first week of October, and said the constituent parties will start seat-sharing talks at the earliest. They said they will raise issues related to rising prices, unemployment, corruption and caste census. This was decided at the first meeting of the coordination committee of the INDIA grouping which was held at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar here. Twelve leaders of the 14-member panel were present in the meeting that took place under the shadow of a row over DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remark on the Sanatan Dharma. Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal, who is a member of the panel, said Abhishek Banerjee of the TMC could not attend the meeting due to the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate. He alleged the ED summons was a result of the ”vendetta politics” of the BJP and the prime minister.