New Delhi, June 8: The INDIA bloc party leaders on Monday put a show of strength as it highlighted the issue of vote theft, paper leaks, fuel price ruse, inflation and demanded resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The meeting that was attended by 23 parties also resolved to hold meeting at every two months, and demanded for an all party meeting to be convened by the government.
The meeting was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposotion in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal, Samajwadi Party chief Alhilesh Yadav, Mohibbullah Nadvi, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee, NC leader Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, CPI leader D Raja, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Sanjay Yadav, Supriya Sule from NCP (SP), Uddhav Thackeray, Aditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut (all online) from SS(UBT), John Brittas from CPI(M).
Besides them, Dipankar Bhattacharya and Ravi Kumar from CPI(ML), Hemant Soren joined virtually from JMM, Sadiq Thangal and Kunhalikutty from IUML, Jose K. Mani from KC(M), Vaiko from MDMK, Thirumavalavan and Ravi Kumar from VCK, N. K. Premchandran from RSP, Francis George from Kerala Congress (Joseph), G. Devarajan from All India Forward Bloc, Rajkumar Roat from BAP, Jayant Patil from Peasants and Workers Party of India, Sunil Singh from Lok Dal and Kapil Sibal, an independent MP.
The meeting lasted for over two and half hours during which the leaders discussed the current political situation.
After the meeting, Kharge told the media that meeting unanimously agreed on five broad points, which will be taken up immediately.
He said that the INDIA bloc leaders decided to jointly write to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) over issues related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, vote manipulation and the “stealing of elections”. The leaders agreed that the letter would be delivered to the CJI very soon, seeking intervention on concerns raised by member parties regarding the electoral process.
Kharge also stated that the alliance also unanimously resolved to demand the immediate resignation of the Union Education Minister, holding him responsible for betrayal of lakhs of students who appeared for the NEET and CBSE examinations.
He said, “Opposition leaders noted that the handling of examination-related issues had adversely affected the interests of students and their families.”
“The INDIA bloc also called upon the Union government to convene an all-party meeting at the earliest to deliberate on the precarious current economic situation, unemployment, price rise, issues concerning farmers and other people-centric matters, such as atrocities against marginalised sections, which require urgent policy intervention,” Kharge said.
The Congress president also said that the opposition parties further unanimously decided to institutionalise regular consultations within the alliance.
“Leaders agreed that INDIA bloc meetings would be held once every two months, with the next gathering scheduled to take place in Hyderabad in August,” he added.
Kharge also said that to strengthen coordination during Parliament proceedings, the alliance decided to continue its parliamentary strategy meetings throughout the upcoming Monsoon Session.
“Daily morning coordination meetings will be held at the office of the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, to ensure a unified approach on key legislative and political issues,” he said.
Earlier in his opening remarks to the meeting, Kharge called for greater unity among constituents of the INDIA bloc, urging opposition parties to intensify their collective efforts against political, economic, social and foreign policy challenges confronting the country under the Narendra Modi-led government.
He said the opposition grouping had demonstrated its strength and cohesion in Parliament on April 17, 2026, when it united to oppose and defeat the Centre’s proposed delimitation-related legislation in the Lok Sabha. He said the alliance should build on that success and continue working in close coordination in the months ahead.
Kharge noted that millions of people were being deprived of their voting rights through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and remarked that attacks on the Constitution were continuing. He also accused the Centre of misusing investigative agencies against political opponents and discriminating against states ruled by non-BJP parties.
Raising economic concerns, the Congress chief said prices of essential commodities remained high and described the overall economic climate as unfavourable. He alleged that investment inflows were insufficient to generate adequate employment opportunities and warned that the growth of private monopolies across sectors could adversely affect micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Referring to issues concerning the youth, he said repeated irregularities and mismanagement in examination systems had undermined the aspirations of students and job seekers. He also observed that atrocities against weaker sections continued in several BJP-ruled states.
On foreign policy, Kharge pointed out that India’s diplomatic standing had weakened and asserted that the country was no longer adhering to the principles and values it had traditionally championed internationally.
