Congress Not Interested In PM Post: Mallikarjun Kharge At Big Opposition Meet

The Congress is not interested in power or the office of Prime Minister, said party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday as leaders of 26 Opposition parties gathered in Bengaluru to discuss strategy ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

He further said that the opposition gathering is being held to "protect our Constitution, Democracy, Secularism, and Social Justice."

"We are aware that at the state level, there are differences between some of us. These differences are not ideological. These differences are not so big that we cannot put them behind us for the sake of the common man and middle class, for youth, for the poor, the Dalit, the adivasis and the minorities whose rights are being crushed silently behind the scenes," Kharge said in Bengaluru.

"I had already said in Chennai, on MK Stalin's birthday, that Congress is not interested in power or the post of Prime Minister. Our intention in this meeting is not to gain power for ourselves. It is to protect our Constitution, Democracy, Secularism and Social Justice," Kharge was quoted saying by ANI.

Stepping up his attack on the saffron party, Kharge said "Every institution is being turned into a weapon against the opposition. CBI, ED, and Income Tax are routinely used. False criminal cases are filed against our leaders so that they get caught in the legal process. Constitutional authorities are used to suspend our MPs. MLAs are being blackmailed or bribed to move to BJP and topple governments."

He said 26 parties are here together and in government in 11 states today.

"The BJP did not get 303 seats by itself. It used the votes of its allies and came to power and then discarded them. Today, the BJP president and its leaders are running from state to state to patch up with their old allies," he said.

More than 20 opposition parties began crucial deliberations on Monday to chalk out their joint programme aimed at defeating the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Chief Ministers M K Stalin, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad are among those who are attending the meeting.