INDIA bloc leaders are scheduled to physically meet for the first time this year over dinner at Rahul Gandhi’s residence on Thursday in a bid to resurrect the Opposition alliance ahead of a slew of Assembly elections over the next 10 months.

A strong pushback to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls appears to be the priority at a time the Election Commission hopes to extend the drive to all states after the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict on the plea challenging the exercise in Bihar.

Also on the agenda will be a discussion on the vice-presidential election that will be notified on Thursday.

Asked whether the INDIA bloc would contest the vice-presidential election, a senior leader of one of the constituent parties said: “We will do what we have to do at the right time. It is unlikely we will accept the candidate proposed by the government.”

Some other INDIA bloc leaders said it would be best if the Congress proposed or agreed to a name that was outside its party fold to be able to build a broader consensus. Some parties such as the BRS, YSRCP, BJD and the AAP would have issues supporting a Congress candidate given that they are in direct conflict with the Grand Old Party in their respective states.

The Trinamool Congress, which had distanced itself from the INDIA bloc last year, is now coordinating actively within the grouping and will send a representative for the dinner at Rahul’s residence. For Trinamool, the priority issue is the SIR, as Bengal could be the second state where the exercise could be conducted ahead of the elections next summer.

On Friday morning, the INDIA bloc plans to march to the EC headquarters in protest against the SIR even as the constituent parties plan to keep up the pressure on the government in Parliament by demanding a discussion.

“The SIR (Silent Invisible Rigging) vote chori is a subject that can easily be discussed in both Houses. BJP scared & are disrupting. From Monday August 4 we will give the shaky Modi coalition free tutorials in Parliament rules & procedure to teach them how it can be discussed," Trinamool Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien posted on X on Sunday.

Though the government’s floor managers have time and again said that all issues can be debated in Parliament, they are also citing a ruling by former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar that the functioning of the EC cannot be discussed in the House.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju has said the presiding officers need to decide whether the discussion can be allowed in accordance with the rules.