The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is a big tent multi-party political alliance of several political parties in India led by the country's largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress. The alliance is against the ideology and governance of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Etymology The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, commonly known by its backronym I.N.D.I.A. is an opposition front announced by the leaders of 28 parties to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The name was proposed during a meeting in Bengaluru and was unanimously adopted by the 28 participating parties. While some sources attribute the suggestion of the name to Rahul Gandhi, the leader face of the Indian National Congress (INC), others mention that it was suggested by Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and the then chief minister of West Bengal.
History On September 25, 2022, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chautala hosted a rally in Fatehabad on the occasion of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal's birth anniversary. During this rally, the ideas of a national alliance were first openly called on stage. Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar had said "I'll urge all parties, including Congress, to get together and then they (BJP) will lose badly". JD(U) spokesperson K. C. Tyagi had also stated that the foundation of the alliance was during this same rally.
The first major Opposition parties' meeting, held in Patna, Bihar, was chaired by Nitish Kumar on 23 June 2023, when the proposal for a new alliance was put on the table. The meeting was attended by 16 Opposition parties. INLD was not included in this meeting.
The second meeting, was held in Bengaluru, Karnataka on 17–18 July. It was chaired by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi when the proposal for an alliance was accepted and ten more parties were added to the list. The alliance's name was finalized and given the name Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
The third meeting was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra from 31 August to 1 September. The meeting was hosted by Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray and saw Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and chief ministers of 5 states in attendance. Over the two-day deliberations, the alliance discussed major electoral issues for the upcoming general elections, carved out the coordination committee, and passed a three-point resolution to fight 2024 Indian general elections together 'as far as possible'.
The fourth meeting was held in New Delhi on 19 December. The meeting was primarily held to discuss seat-sharing, joint rallies, and the prime ministerial face and/or convenor of the alliance. The alliance adopted a resolution to ensure maximum use of VVPATs in upcoming elections. "To enhance confidence in elections, VVPAT slips should be directly given to voters to self-verify and place in a separate box, instead of them falling into the main box. Eventually, all VVPAT slips must be 100% counted, ensuring truly free and fair elections," read the resolution passed by the alliance at the meeting. Seat sharing was also to be done by either 31 December 2023 or mid-January 2024. It was also decided that protests will be held across the country on 22 December 2023 against the suspensions of opposition MPs in the Indian Parliament. Some leaders said that the alliance would hold a grand joint rally at Patna on 30 January 2024, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, although this was not officially announced.
The alliance held its 5th meeting virtually with some leaders not attending. Following the meeting, the Indian National Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was declared the alliance chairperson. Members also had discussions about seat sharing. Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, was offered the post of national convenor of the alliance which he declined. Nitish Kumar went on to join the National Democratic Alliance in the 2024 Bihar political crisis two weeks later.
Campaign The bloc held its first event together on 22 December 2023, when nationwide protests were launched against the suspensions of opposition MPs in the Indian Parliament. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader face Rahul Gandhi, NCP President Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) leader face Sitaram Yechury and other leaders held protests against the suspensions of MPs under the banner "Save Democracy" and "Save Constitution" at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.
The bloc's first joint rally was held in Patna, Bihar on 3 March 2024. The rally saw, among others, Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, and senior Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D. Raja. Kharge attacked Kumar for frequently changing alliances and criticised the BJP for not fulfilling its promise of job creation and neglecting the country's poor and the majority.
Member parties
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance comprises a diverse range of political parties from across India. The member parties of the alliance are:
#PartyLogo/FlagBasePolitical PositionPortrait LeaderRef.(s) National Parties1INCIndian National CongressNational Party Mallikarjun Kharge2CPI(M)Communist Party of India (Marxist)National PartyLeft-wingM. A. BabyRegional parties3SPSamajwadi Party Uttar PradeshLeft-wing Akhilesh Yadav4MAITCMamata All India Trinamool Congress West Bengal, MeghalayaCentreMamata Banerjee5SS(UBT)Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)MaharashtraCentre-right to right-wingUddhav Thackeray6NCP–SPNationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar MaharashtraCentre-leftSharad Pawar7RJDRashtriya Janata Dal Bihar, JharkhandCentre-left to left-wingLalu Prasad Yadav8JMMJharkhand Mukti Morcha JharkhandRegionalismHemant Soren9JKNCJammu and Kashmir National Conference Jammu and KashmirRegionalismFarooq Abdullah10JKPDPJammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic PartyJammu and KashmirRegionalismMehbooba Mufti11TVKTamilaga Vettri KazhagamTamil Nadu, PuducherryCentre-leftC. Joseph Vijay12CPICommunist Party of India KeralaLeft-wingD. Raja13CPI(ML)LCommunist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) LiberationBiharFar-leftDipankar Bhattacharya14RSPRevolutionary Socialist Party KeralaFar-leftManoj Bhattacharya15AIFBAll India Forward BlocWest BengalFar-leftG. Devarajan16PWPIPeasants and Workers Party of IndiaMaharashtraLeft-wingJayant Prabhakar Patil17VCKViduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Tamil NaduSyncreticThol. Thirumavalavan18IUMLIndian Union Muslim League KeralaCentre-rightK. M. Kader Mohideen19KCKerala CongressKeralaCentreP. J. Joseph20KC(J)Kerala Congress (Jacob)KeralaCentreAnoop Jacob21KC(M)Kerala Congress (Mani) KeralaCentre-left to left-wingJose K. Mani22MDMKMarumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Tamil NaduCentre-leftVaiko23RLPRashtriya Loktantrik Party RajasthanRegionalismHanuman Beniwal24BAPBharat Adivasi PartyRajasthanRegionalism Rajkumar Roat25AJPApni Janata PartyUttar PradeshRegionalismSwami Prasad Maurya
Organisational structure
PartyCoordination Committee and Election Strategy CommitteeCampaign CommitteeWorking Group for MediaWorking Group for Social MediaWorking Group for Research All India Forward Bloc G. Devarajan Naren Chatterjee Communist Party of India D. Raja Binoy Viswam Bhalchandran Kango Bhalchandran Kango Communist Party of India (Marxist) TBD R. Arun Kumar Pranjal Pranjal Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation Ravi Rai Sucheta Di V Arun Kumar Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam T R Baalu Tiruchi Siva Kanimozhi Karunanidhi Dayanidhi Maran A Raja Indian National Congress K. C. Venugopal Gurdeep Singh Sappal Jairam Ramesh Pawan Khera Supriya Srinate Amitabh Dubey Indian Union Muslim League K. M. Kader Mohideen Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Omar Abdullah Hasnain Masoodi Tanvir Sadiq Ifra Ja Imran Nabi Dar Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti Dr Mehboob Beg Mohit Bhan Iltija Mehbooba Ad. Aditya Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Hemant Soren Champai Soren Supriyo Bhattacharya Alok Kumar Avindani Sudivya Kumar Sonu Kerala Congress (M) Jose K. Mani Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar Sharad Pawar P. C. Chacko Jitendra Ahwad Vandana Chavan Rashtriya Janata Dal Tejashwi Yadav Sanjay Yadav Manoj Jha Sumit Sharma Prof. Subodh Mehta Revolutionary Socialist Party N. K. Premachandran Samajwadi Party Javed Ali Khan Kiranmoy Nanda Ashish YadavRajeev Nigam Ashish Yadav Alok Ranjan Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)Sanjay Raut Anil Desai Arvind Sawant Priyanka Chaturvedi Mamata All India Trinamool Congress Abhishek Banerjee Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Thirumavalavan
List of current chief ministers
State PortraitChief Minister Ministry PortraitDeputy Chief MinisterGoverning partiesHimachal PradeshSukhvinder Singh Sukhu (INC)SukhuMukesh Agnihotri (INC)INCKarnatakaD. K. Shivakumar (INC)ShivakumarG. Parameshwara (INC)INCINDKeralamV.D. Satheesan (INC)SatheesanVacantINCIUMLKCRSPKC(J)RMPICMPINDTelanganaRevanth Reddy (INC)ReddyMallu Bhatti Vikramarka (INC)INCCPIJammu and KashmirOmar Abdullah (JKNC) Abdullah II Surinder Kumar Choudhary (JKNC)JKNCINCINDCPI(M)Jharkhand Hemant Soren (JMM)Soren IVVacantJMMINCRJDCPI(M-L)LTamil Nadu C. Joseph Vijay (TVK)Vijay IVacantTVKINCIUMLVCK
List of current opposition leaders
Parliament of India This is the list of current opposition leaders in the Parliament of India: PortraitNameElected constituencyTerm of officePolitical partyAssumed officeLeft officeTime in officeRajya Sabha Mallikarjun KhargeKarnataka16 February 2021IncumbentIndian National CongressLok Sabha Rahul GandhiRae Bareli9 June 2024IncumbentIndian National Congress
Legislatures of the States and Union territories State Legislative Councils This is the list of current opposition leaders in the legislative councils of the Indian states: StatePortrait Name Party Bihar Rabri Devi Rashtriya Janata Dal Uttar Pradesh Lal Bihari Yadav Samajwadi Party
State Legislative Assemblies
This is the list of current opposition leaders in the legislative assemblies of the Indian states and union territories:
State/UT Portrait Name Party Bihar Tejashwi YadavRashtriya Janata Dal Chhattisgarh Charan Das MahantIndian National CongressGoa Yuri Alemao Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda Keralam Pinarayi Vijayan Communist Party of India (Marxist) Madhya Pradesh Umang SingharIndian National Congress Meghalaya Mukul Sangma Mamata Trinamool Congress Punjab Partap Singh BajwaIndian National Congress Rajasthan Tika Ram Jully Tripura Jitendra Chaudhury Communist Party of India (Marxist) Uttarakhand Yashpal Arya Indian National Congress Uttar Pradesh Mata Prasad Pandey Samajwadi Party
List of current speakers and deputy speakers
State Legislative Assemblies
This is the list of current Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the legislative assemblies of the Indian states and union territories:
States Speaker PartyDeputy Speaker Party Himachal Pradesh Kuldeep Singh Pathania INC Vinay Kumar INC Jharkhand Rabindra Nath Mahato JMM Vacant N/A Karnataka U. T. Khader INC Rudrappa Manappa Lamani INC Keralam Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan INC Shanimol Osman INC Telangana Gaddam Prasad Kumar INC Jatoth Ram Chander Naik INC
Union Territories Speaker PartyDeputy Speaker Party Jammu and Kashmir Abdul Rahim Rather JKNC Vacant N/A
Strength in parliament
Party-wise strength
The following is the party-wise strength of INDIA parties in the Parliament of India:
PartyLok SabhaRajya SabhaPresence Indian National Congress (INC) National Party Samajwadi Party (SP) Uttar Pradesh Mamata Trinamool Congress (MITC) West Bengal Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP–SP) Maharashtra Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) National Party Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)