INDIA Bloc Divided Over Kharge As PM Candidate

There appears to be a lack of consensus within the INDIA alliance regarding the proposal of Mallikarjun Kharge as the prime ministerial candidate for the bloc.

Amid rumours of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal backing Kharge's candidature, a report claims that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav are miffed with him as the PM candidate.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav walked out of the India bloc meeting on Tuesday ahead of schedule, expressing dissatisfaction with the suggestion of Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge as the prime ministerial candidate, sources told India Today.

As Lalu and Nitish had disagreed over the choice, they did not attend the subsequent press conference, the report added.

Before the INDIA bloc meeting, JDU MLAs and leaders from the RJD publicly called for the declaration of the Bihar Chief Minister as the Opposition's prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. It has to be noted that Lalu Yadav had previously voiced support for Nitish Kumar.

At the fourth meeting of the alliance, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed the name of Kharge as PM face, but the veteran leader said it was important to win and increase the opposition's strength first.

MDMK's Vaiko and other leaders confirmed that Banerjee and Kejriwal proposed Kharge's name for the PM face of the alliance so that he could be the country's first Dalit prime minister.

"We should decide on how to win first. If you don't have MPs, then what is the use of discussing the prime minister (candidate)? We will first try and win a majority first. We will first try and win unitedly.

However, Congress leader PJ Joseph said Mamata did not take Kharge's name. "She did not suggest so. While she spoke, Mamata Banerjee said that it would be good if we could project a Dalit PM. She did not say the name of any person. The matter was not discussed much because she spoke last," news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

The Congress did not officially comment on this proposal and during the press meet following the meeting Kharge said there was no point in talking about the PM face now. "First, all of us have to win, we should think about what needs to be done for victory. Who will be PM, this will be decided later. If there are less MPs, what is the point of talking about PM. First, to increase our numbers, (by) coming together, we will try to bring majority. First we will try to win," Kharge said.

Sources have told PTI that there was no consensus on Kharge's name for the PM-face of the alliance, but some leaders insisted that they wanted a decision on the convener of the coalition first and said Kharge was a good candidate for the same.

When asked about the prime ministerial face of the alliance, Kharge, at a press conference, said, "We have to win first, and think what to do to win. What is the point in discussing PM before having MPs. We will try to get a majority together".