Not UPA, Anti BJP Opposition Bloc To Get New Name

The anti-BJP alliance will not be called as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) as the TMC and the AAP joined the Opposition parties meeting, putting aside its political differences with Congress.

The new name of the Opposition front will be decided by the parties in the two-day meet scheduled to be held on July 17-18 in Bengaluru. The earlier reports had claimed that the event might have the presence of 24 parties. However, it now looks like it might go up to 26.

Under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress had formed the anti-BJP alliance called the UPA between 1998-2014. The new alliance will come up with a common agenda to take on the BJP while having a common minimum programme ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

When asked about topics for the Opposition meeting in Bengaluru and if UPA will get a new name, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal says, "We will take all decisions. I can't tell you now what are the issues that are going to be discussed. Congress is not deciding this alone. All the opposition parties will sit together and decide unitedly."

The alliance or the proposed opposition bloc is likely to be called the "Patriotic Democratic Alliance" or PDA, Hindustan Times reported citing people familiar with the matter.

"We can say the new alliance could be named Patriotic Democratic Alliance (PDA). We have not taken a final decision on it. We have the primary objective of defeating the NDA and all the opposition parties have a clarity on it," Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja had told the daily, recently.

He highlighted that the opposition parties joining the proposed coalition possess a shared commitment to secularism and democracy and the name of the new coalition would reflect these values, drawing parallels with existing alliances such as the Secular Democratic Front in Tamil Nadu and the Mahagatbandhan in Bihar.