The main regional components of the opposition Congress-led Indian National Inclusive Development Alliance are planning to hold a meeting in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow after the assembly poll results in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are announced on May 4 to create a pressure group.
The advantage of such a group, apart from the Congress, is that it can attract parties like the Biju Janata Dal, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, or even the YSR Congress, who hate the national party, said a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, on condition of anonymity.
The choice of venue is also important as Uttar Pradesh is set to go to the polls next year. This will signal support for the Samajwadi Party (SP) led by Akhilesh Yadav, a core component of the regional India bloc, which is hoping to return to power. In the 2024 national elections, the SP registered its best performance, winning 37 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, and the Congress increased its number of seats to six from one. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) seats in the state fell from 62 seats in 2019 to 33, as the party’s overall tally fell below the majority mark in Parliament.
The pressure group will consist of the SP, TMC, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Aam Aadmi Party, which is no longer part of the bloc but remains part of the opposition’s parliamentary strategy, people familiar with the matter said.
These parties supported regional parties in the elections in which the Congress Party ran alone. In the 2025 Delhi elections, the TMC and SP supported AAP in its triangular contest against the BJP and the Congress. In West Bengal, AAP leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal campaigned for TMC candidates. Yadav tweeted in support of TMC.
“One woman [chief minister Mamata Banerjee] He alone will take up the fight. You will prevail, and you will move forward! In the first stage [of the West Bengal election on April 23]Founding Didi [Banerjee]The government of Bangladesh has been formed with enormous power. In the second stage [Wednesday]The towering edifice of the Didi government – the guardian of Bengal’s identity – will rise high. Didi here. Didi is here to stay! Yadav tweeted.
