Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, commonly known by its backronym I.N.D.I.A.^[6] 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),^[7] others mention that it was suggested by Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and chief minister of West Bengal.^[8]

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".^[9][10] JD(U) spokesperson K. C. Tyagi had also stated that the foundation of the alliance was during this same rally.^[11]

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.^[12]

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.^[13]

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'.^[14][15]

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.^[16]

The alliance held its 5th meeting virtually with some leaders not attending.^[17] Following the meeting, the Indian National Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was declared the alliance chairperson.^[18] Members also had discussions about seat sharing.^[19] Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, was offered the post of national convenor of the alliance which he declined.^[20] Nitish Kumar went on to join the National Democratic Alliance in the 2024 Bihar political crisis two weeks later.^[21]

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.^[22][23]

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.^[24]

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance comprises a diverse range of political parties from across India. The 36 member parties of the alliance are:^[25]

More information Party, Logo/Flag ...

	Party			Logo/Flag	Base	Political Position	Portrait	Leader	Ref.(s)
National Parties
1		INC	Indian National Congress		National Party	Centre[29]		Mallikarjun Kharge	[7][8]
2		CPI(M)	Communist Party of India (Marxist)		National Party	Left-wing		M. A. Baby	[22]
Regional parties
3		SP	Samajwadi Party		Uttar Pradesh	Left-wing		Akhilesh Yadav	[30][31]
4		AITC	All India Trinamool Congress		West Bengal, Meghalaya	Centre		Mamata Banerjee	[32][33]
5		DMK	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		Puducherry, Tamil Nadu	Centre-left		M. K. Stalin	[34][2]
6		SHS(UBT)	Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)		Maharashtra	Centre-right to right-wing		Uddhav Thackeray	[14][13]
7		NCP(SP)	Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar)		Maharashtra, Kerala	Centre-left		Sharad Pawar	[35]
8		RJD	Rashtriya Janata Dal		Bihar, Jharkhand	Centre-left to left-wing		Lalu Prasad Yadav	[25][14]
9		JMM	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha		Jharkhand	Regionalism		Hemant Soren	[36]
10		CPI	Communist Party of India		Kerala, Bihar, Telangana, Tamil Nadu	Left-wing		D. Raja	[33]
11		CPI(ML)L	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation		Bihar	Far-left		Dipankar Bhattacharya	[21]
12		JKNC	Jammu and Kashmir National Conference		Jammu and Kashmir	Regionalism		Farooq Abdullah	[37]
13		RSP	Revolutionary Socialist Party		Kerala	Far-left		Manoj Bhattacharya	[32]
14		VCK	Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi		Tamil Nadu	Syncretic		Thol. Thirumavalavan	[38]
15		IUML	Indian Union Muslim League		Kerala	Centre-right		K. M. Kader Mohideen	[39]
16		MDMK	Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		Tamil Nadu	Centre-left		Vaiko	[40]
17		RLP	Rashtriya Loktantrik Party		Rajasthan	Regionalism		Hanuman Beniwal	[41][42]
18		KMDK	Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi		Tamil Nadu	Indigenism		E. R. Eswaran	[43]
19		BAP	Bharat Adivasi Party		Rajasthan	Regionalism		Rajkumar Roat	[44]
20		MMK	Manithaneya Makkal Katchi		Tamil Nadu	Regionalism		M. H. Jawahirullah	[45]
21		KC(M)	Kerala Congress (M)		Kerala	Centre-left to left-wing		Jose K. Mani	[46]
22		KC	Kerala Congress		Kerala	Centre		P. J. Joseph	[47]
23		PDP	Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party		Jammu and Kashmir	Regionalism		Mehbooba Mufti	[48]
24		AIFB	All India Forward Bloc		West Bengal	Far-left		G. Devarajan	[32]
25		PWPI	Peasants and Workers Party of India		Maharashtra	Left-wing		Jayant Prabhakar Patil	[49]
26		RD	Raijor Dal		Assam	Left-wing		Akhil Gogoi	[50]
27		AJP	Assam Jatiya Parishad		Assam	Regionalism		Lurinjyoti Gogoi	[50]
28		AGM	Anchalik Gana Morcha		Assam	Regionalism		Ajit Kumar Bhuyan	[50]
29		APHLC	All Party Hill Leaders Conference		Assam	Regionalism		Jonas Ingti Kathar	[50]
30		MNM	Makkal Needhi Maiam		Tamil Nadu	Centre		Kamal Haasan	[51]
31		GFP	Goa Forward Party		Goa	Regionalism		Vijai Sardesai	[52]
32		VIP	Vikassheel Insaan Party		Bihar	Regionalism		Mukesh Sahni	[53]
33		IGJF	Indian Gorkha Janshakti Front		West Bengal	Regionalism		Ajoy Edwards	[54]
34		PLP	Purvanchal Lok Parishad		Assam	Regionalism		Charan Chandra Deka
35		JDA	Jatiya Dal Assam		Assam	Regionalism		M. G. Hazarika	[55]
36		SGP	Samajwadi Ganarajya Party		Maharashtra	Regionalism		Kapil Patil	[56]
		IND	Independent	INDEPENDENTS

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According to the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the alliance's ideology revolves around the principles of developmentalism, inclusivity, and social justice. By combining their efforts, the member parties aim to protect democratic values, promote welfare and progress, and counter what they perceive as an ideology that threatens the idea of India.^[63] It was formed with the objective of defeating the incumbent BJP led NDA in the 2024 Indian general election.

• Mahagathbandhan (Bihar)
• Mahagathbandhan (Jharkhand)
• United Democratic Front (Kerala)
• Maha Vikas Aghadi (Maharashtra)
• Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance (Manipur)
• Secular Democratic Forces (Tripura)
• Secular Progressive Alliance (Tamil Nadu & Puducherry)
• Secular Democratic Alliance (West Bengal)
• 2024 Indian general election
• 2025 elections in India