Four months ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections 2024, the opposition bloc INDIA today held its fourth meeting and for the first time, the leaders took up a name for the Prime Ministerial post to challenge Narendra Modi. During the meeting, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge should be the coordinator of the INDIA bloc and that he should be projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate as well. MDMK (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) MP Vaiko also said after the meeting that there was no opposition to that suggestion to make Kharge PM face.
However, Kharge himself downplayed the idea saying that the prime focus should be on winning the polls. “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 fewer MPs, what is the point of talking about the PM? First, to increase our numbers, (by) coming together, we will try to bring the majority. First, we will try to win,” he said.
I.N.D.I.A गठबंधन की बैठक में सीएम ममता बनर्जी की ओर से लोकसभा चुनाव 2024 में PM के लिए मल्लिकार्जुन खरगे के नाम का प्रस्ताव रखा गया.
इस पर SP प्रवक्ता राजकुमार भाटी ने क्या कहा सुनिए #KasamSamvidhaanKi #INDIAAlliance #SP #Elections2024 @ramm_sharma pic.twitter.com/A3krAs3cXF
— Zee News (@ZeeNews) December 19, 2023
Kharge, a former union minister, belongs to the Dalit community. During the meeting, both Kejriwal and Banerjee reportedly said that projecting a Dalit CM face would benefit the opposition bloc.
Kharge also said, “Today the fourth meeting of INDIA alliance was held. Leaders of 28 parties participated in this meeting and presented their views before everyone. Everyone came together and talked about strengthening the alliance and raising issues related to the interests of the people. Everyone has decided to hold 8 to 10 meetings together in the coming time so that their message can be conveyed to the people.”
आज INDIA गठबंधन की चौथी बैठक हुई। इस बैठक में 28 दलों के नेता शामिल हुए और उन्होंने अपने विचारों को सबके सामने रखा।
सभी ने एकजुट होकर गठबंधन को मजबूत करने और लोगों के हित से जुड़े मुद्दों को उठाने पर बात की।
आने वाले समय में सभी ने मिलकर 8 से 10 बैठक करने का फैसला भी किया है,… pic.twitter.com/XH1ax9EuCe
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 19, 2023
Those who attended the meeting included Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav among other leaders.