Opposition alliance INDIA meeting likely to be postponed to September due to unavailability of some leaders

The third meeting of the opposition alliance INDIA, which was scheduled to happen in Mumbai on August 25-26, is likely to be postponed to September due to the unavailability of some leaders. According to sources close to news agency PTI, the next meeting is expected to take place in the first week of September. The date of the meeting will be finalised later.

"August 25-26 is still under consideration but we are looking at another set of dates to ensure that everyone is available," PTI quoted a senior opposition leader in Mumbai.

The alliance of 26 parties, which was formed to challenge the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) previously met in Bengaluru on July 17-18. The first meeting of the INDIA alliance was held in Bihar's Patna on June 12.

The Bengaluru meeting was hosted by Congress and Patna was by Janata



Dal (United). The meeting in Mumbai will be hosted by Maha Vikas Aghadi allies - the Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)'s Sharad Pawar faction, and the Congress.

Prominent figures, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar, will not be available on August 25-26, the opposition sources said. Pawar's political tour across Maharashtra will begin in mid-August. Other allies of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the opposition alliance in Maharashtra, will also be busy with party schedules.

"The Shiv Sena is coordinating the meeting dates as far as we have been told. We were given to understand that it was August 25-26. Now, we hear that Sharad Pawar is unavailable on those days. These things happen when one has to coordinate with 26 parties, nothing unusual. We faced this issue even when the Patna meeting was being planned," another opposition leader told PTI.