The 4th meeting of the India Alliance, formed by opposition parties against the BJP, took place in New Delhi on the 19th. The meeting was attended by state Chief Ministers M.K.Stalin, Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal, Congress National President Mallikarjuna Kharge, senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nationalist Congress President Sarath Pawar, Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, and leaders of 28 other parties.
During the meeting, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made headlines when he spoke in Hindi and dismissed a request for translation into English. “Hindi is our national language. Hence the name Hindustan. We should all be familiar with that language. So, you learn Hindi,” said Kumar. The exchange took place when DMK Parliamentary Committee President TR Balu requested a translation, as he had acted as a translator in the past. In response, Nitish Kumar firmly stated that English is the language imposed by the British.
The meeting also saw the Congress party attempting to bring a no-confidence motion against Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to a vote. However, the resolution failed due to a lack of support from coalition parties, including the United Janata Dal Party leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kumar emphasized the imperfections of the paper ballot system and instead voiced support for the use of verifiable paper audits. Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Jayant Chaudhary was also reported to have refused to support a return to the paper ballot system.
Overall, the meeting showcased various perspectives on important issues, including the continuous suspension of opposition MPs in Parliament, deciding the prime ministerial candidate of the India Alliance, and discussions on seat allocation.