26 Indian parties form alliance against ruling BJP

In a major twist, 26 opposition parties in India have formed an alliance beat ruling BJP in the general election due next year.

The opposition's coalition has been named as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

The development came at two-day long meeting at Bengaluru and Karnataka participated by opposition leaders including the Congress's Sonia Gandhi ended on Tuesday. The group will hold its next meeting in Mumbai city.

The allied parties discussed seat-sharing, and common programme for the election in the meeting.

"We are setting aside our political differences to save democracy," Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a press conference after the meeting.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won more than 300 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha (the lower house of India's parliament) in 2019. So, it will be a tough job for opposition to challenge BJP.

"BJP, can you challenge INDIA?" she asked.

Some reports have said that Sonia Gandhi will be named the president of the opposition's alliance but there was no official confirmation.

Meanwhile, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was also set to hold a meeting of 38 allies in the capital Delhi.

BJP president JP Nadda criticised the opposition meeting, saying its foundation was based on "the politics of selfishness".