Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee proposed the name of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge as the Opposition’s INDIA bloc’s Prime Ministerial candidate.
This comes after the fourth meeting of the INDIA bloc where opposition leaders discussed various issues, including seat-sharing, joint campaign blueprint and chalking out a strategy to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Banerjee said the Kharge could be a suitable candidate for the post. It is not clear as of now in what context the Trinamool stalwart made the remark.
Many constituents of the anti-BJP alliance have been reportedly vying for the most powerful political position in the country. TMC and JDU leaders have previously given feelers on the names of Banerjee and Nitish Kumar respectively.
“When so many political parties are together, it is a democracy, with different states, different views and different opinions, but ultimately INDIA is a platform where we are fighting together. The BJP doesn’t have any allies. The NDA is gone. We are not like that. It will be better, after the elections, we have to see the results, and then announce the PM candidate. All parties will decide that,” Mamata said.
After the meeting, however, Kharge said the prime ministerial candidate will be projected after the elections.
“We have to first come as winners. If we don’t have MPs, what is the use of projecting PM?” he said.
He said 28 parties participated in the fourth meeting of the INDIA alliance. “All parties have spoken in one voice on how the alliance should function in the future,” he said.
“Some leaders wanted to have the seat sharing before 1st January. Discussions regarding the face of the prime minister were also done. No final decision was taken…Everyone said that PM’s face will be decided after winning the elections,” she said.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said the main focus of the meeting was seat-sharing agreements in states.
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