NEW DELHI: The virtual meeting of the INDIA bloc — attended by major opposition leaders except for Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, and Uddhav Thackeray — concluded on Saturday with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge being named as the chairperson of the alliance ‘unanimously’.
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) national president Nitish Kumar was offered the post of convenor of the alliance, formed to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. But he is said to have turned down the proposal.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, who attended the meeting, said that ‘everyone’ suggested Kumar’s name for convenor. “But the Janata Dal (United) national president’s opinion is that the one who is already in charge should continue,” the senior opposition leader said.
The NCP patriarch was speaking after attending the virtual meeting of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc leaders, which began this afternoon to review the seat-sharing agenda, participation in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, and other matters.
“A meeting of the INDIA bloc was held under the chairmanship of Mallikarjun Kharge. We had a discussion that we will all take a decision on seat sharing as soon as possible. It was suggested by some that the alliance should be headed by Mallikarjun Kharge and everyone agreed. We also formed a committee to make plans in the coming days. Everyone suggested that Nitish Kumar should take responsibility as the convenor, but his opinion is that the one who is already in charge should continue,” Pawar said.
On declaring the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate, he said, “After the elections, if we get the majority, then we would be able to give a better option to the country.”
Meanwhile, BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad took a jibe at Nitish Kumar asking that if the post of convenor, offered to the latter, was ‘serious’ then why wasn’t it offered earlier?
He said that the alliance, which doesn’t even have any guarantee that they will topple the ruling BJP, is busy in fighting on ‘posts’.
“Sometimes I laugh (thinking) that what kind of alliance is this, where there is neither any vacancy nor guarantee as to who is going to win, but there is turmoil on the post of convenor,” Prasad said.
On the other hand, soon after the virtual key meeting, Kharge said that the seat-sharing talks are progressing in a positive way.
In a post on X, Kharge also invited all the INDIA bloc parties to join Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, which is scheduled to kick off on Sunday, at their convenience.
“Leaders of the INDIA Coordination Commitee today met online and had a fruitful discussion on the alliance. Everyone is happy that the seat-sharing talks are progressing positively. We also discussed about joint programs in the coming days by INDIA Parties. I, along with Rahul Gandhi ji invited all INDIA Parties to join ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ at their convenience and use the opportunity to raise the social, political and economic issues plaguing the common people of this country,” Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X.
INDIA or ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’ is a group of opposition parties, including the Congress.
The parties have come together to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and prevent it from winning a third straight term at the Centre in the Lok Sabha elections due in April-May. (ANI)