Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar rejected the seat of convenor of the INDIA bloc, sources told news agency ANI on Saturday. After this, JD(U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha said, “The CM (Nitish Kumar) desires that INDIA alliance convenor should be from Congress only.”
Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) is part of the opposition’s alliance, INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance). As many as 26-28 political parties are allies of this alliance formed ahead of the Lok Sabha Election 2024.
The statement by sources came after INDIA bloc leaders held a virtual meeting on Saturday afternoon to review seat-sharing discussion for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, participation in Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and address other alliance- related matters
Meanwhile, Congress Leader Mallikarjun Kharge was chosen as the INDIA bloc chief NDTV reported on Saturday.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin and party leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi attended the meeting via video conferencing. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee skipped as she was attending a pre-decided state program.
During the previous meeting of the INDIA bloc, Mamata Banerjee and SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav had proposed the name of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as the Prime Ministerial post. However, news agency PTI had reported that no final decision had been made yet on the INDIA bloc choice for PM face.
As per the report, Kharge is of the view that “winning first is important”. He had said, “I work for the downtrodden. Let’s win first, then we will see. I don’t seek anything.”
Besides, parallel meeting are underway, with the Congress’ alliance committee taking the lead in discussing with various parties of the INDIA bloc on state level alliances. On Friday there was a meeting of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party leaders regarding seat sharing. The seat-sharing dialogue are going on in many states, such as West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and Haryana.
