I.N.D.I.A. meet Mumbai:

• Yuvraj Mohite

The meeting of ‘I.N.D.I.A.’, an alliance of 28 opposition parties, was held in Mumbai, with the tagline - ‘Judega Bharat, Jeetega India’. This was the third meeting after Bihar and Bengaluru. The strong impact of this meeting held in Mumbai is now reverberating in the entire country. What was the specialty of this meeting?

This meeting of ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ in Mumbai was important in many ways. In fact, this unity of opposition parties has thrown the Narendra Modi government at the Center into conundrum. Glimpses of this kept emerging in the background of this meeting. First of all, an attempt was made to find differences within the constituent parties of ‘I.N.D.IA.’. But when nothing concrete came out of it, discussion started on who would remain absent. But even this discussion remained inconclusive. The central government announced to reduce the price of cylinder by Rs. 200, but this also did not have the expected effect.

BJP also activated Shinde government in Maharashtra. Ministers tried to criticize the ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ meeting from all sides. A minister even criticized the price list of food in hotels. On August 31, the first day of ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ meeting, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called a meeting of the leaders of the Grand Alliance in Mumbai. A feast was organized for journalists. There were three news in the ministry on the same day - The glass of the ministry was broken due to the metro blast. A young man who entered the ministry with weapons was detained. And a news spread that someone had threatened to blow up the ministry with a bomb. What was all this? But this did not cause any hindrance in the meeting of ‘I.N.D.I.A.’.

As per the plan, all the leaders of 28 parties of ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ alliance arrived. Till now, many alliances have been formed between political parties during elections. The specialty of ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ alliance emerged in all these experiences. An informal meeting of all the leaders was held in the evening on August 31 - this meeting was internal. There was no such thing as ‘Ego’. All the leaders were meeting one another with great intimacy. The politeness and simplicity of Congress leader Shri Rahul Gandhi and his natural conversation with every leader was extremely interesting. It seemed to be the cementing of the ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ alliance. Allocation of seats is a major issue in elections. But this time, this issue will not be bigger than ‘INDIA’ - this was evident from the cordiality of the leaders. Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sena successfully hosted this ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ alliance meeting. There is a Shiv Sena union in the five-star hotel ‘Grand Hyatt’. No doubt it helped. Located near the airport, this hotel was convenient for everyone. Accommodation for the leaders, dining facilities, three major press conferences and the main meeting venue - all this became possible under one roof. That is why, there was no tension in the security arrangements from Mumbai Police to CRPF.

Organizing this high-power meeting of important leaders of the country was the biggest challenge. The specialty of organizing this meeting was that the formula for organizing the event was in the hands of the youth. The capable and committed young team of Shiv Sena and Congress handled this challenge well, and resulted in grand success. The youth team of Congress had come especially from Delhi. Both the teams had been working ‘day-in, day-out’ for the last several days. Be it media, fame, interior design, or complete planning of meeting place arrangement - the responsibility was carried out with great ease. During the pre-preparation meetings of the workers, all the tensions were handled by these youth with a smile. Sometimes, this team was aware of the mechanism to peacefully reject the pressure from all the party leaders. This is the reason why the planning of this meeting was successful.

One of the three resolutions passed at the ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ alliance meeting was on relations with the media. The way the leaders of all 28 parties handled this issue is important in itself. Three press conferences were held during the ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ meeting. The first press conference was held a day earlier i.e. on August 30. In this, leaders like Mahavikas Aghadi leader Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Ashok Chavan, Nana Patole etc. addressed. The media was not allowed to enter the venue of the ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ meeting.

The visuals of the meeting were being given to the channels from in-house cameras. And so, the effort to get ‘breaking news’ began. Some channels booked rooms at Hyatt and arranged for journalists to stay inside. These journalists were trying to get feedback from the leaders in the lobby and dining area. But this attempt was unsuccessful. Therefore, the media started showing such news that Sonia ji is lovingly eating the Marathi menu ‘Pichlaan-Bhakar’ and who is eating what. Everyone accepted the formula that no leader would talk to media representatives about the meeting. This specialty of ‘India’ Aghadi should also be mentioned. Some journalists were surprised that no one expressed any displeasure or contrary statement to the media.

A day before the ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ meeting, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bihar leader Lalu Prasad had reached Mumbai. Mamta ji went to Amitabh Bachchan’s house and tied Rakhi to him. Rakhi was also tied to Uddhav Thackeray in Matoshree. Laluji met the doctor regarding his health and also had darshan of Siddhivinayak, but there was no further news about both of them. Press conference of Shri Rahul Gandhi also took place. Rahul ji talked to the media by setting up a pavilion near the compound outside the hotel. Attacking the government, Shri Rahul Gandhi alleged that a Chinese national has invested in the Adani Group. The country’s money was taken abroad and brought back. Why is the Prime Minister silent? Why are you not ordering an investigation into the matter? He will have to prove himself spotless in this matter. G-20 meeting is being held in India. This is a question of India’s image. It was as if Rahul ji has dropped a bomb! During this press conference, journalists tried to ask different questions, but Rahul ji did not get diverted.

The closing press conference after the meeting was grand. About four hundred journalists and cameramen were deployed in the great hall. Leaders like Shri Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Shri Sharad Pawar, Shri Uddhav Thackeray including Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bihar Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Shri Stalin, Marxist leader Shri Sitaram Yechury expressed their views. Everyone presented the challenges before the country and explained the importance of ‘I.N.D.I.A.’ alliance. And finally, the press conference ended with the statement that there would be ‘No questions and answers’. The media was furious.

‘I.N.D.I.A.’ alliance has its own media strategy. There has been a change in media in the last ten years. The Prime Minister, who ignores journalists and does not hold even a single press conference, has established his image on the media. The media which does not treat the false statements and claims of the Prime Minister and hesitates in presenting the truth is called ‘Godi Media’. Therefore, ‘India’ has also decided upon its policy.

‘Questions and Answers’ could not take place in the press conference, but it had an effect. It was a rare moment for the media persons to see such big leaders of the country together on one stage for two days. The fact that these leaders could be seen and heard was also an impressive thing for the journalists. Especially young journalists were deeply impacted by this. Such was the effect of the ‘I.N.D.I.A’ meeting!

The Author is a Chief Spokesperson @INCMumbai, Journalist and Political Analysts