'We've to defeat Modi first': Kharge on being proposed as PM face of INDIA bloc

In a key development in the opposition alliance meeting in the national capital on Tuesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal proposed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's name as the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition bloc INDIA, reports ETV Bharat's Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi:As the leaders of the INDIA bloc rolled up their sleeves to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday jointly proposed the name of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the Prime Ministerial candidate to challenge Narendra Modi, but the veteran Congress leader said it is important to win first and everything else can be decided later.

A senior leader from the INDIA bloc told ETV Bharat that Banerjee and Kejriwal proposed Kharge's name but there was no consensus on the issue. After his name was proposed as a candidate to become the country's first Dalit prime minister at a meeting attended by 28 opposition leaders here, Kharge said, "I work for the downtrodden. Let's win first, then we will see. I don't seek anything." "First we have to win and get a majority, then MPs will decide democratically," Kharge said.

Banerjee, after she arrived in the national capital on Monday, had told reporters that any decision on the prime ministerial face of the alliance would be taken after the election. "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," said Banerjee. "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," she had said.

INDIA parties to focus on seat sharing

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Kharge said that INDIA bloc parties will focus on seat-sharing talks at the state level and hold public meetings across the country, stressing that any decision on the prime ministerial candidate will be taken after the elections. Quoting sources, PTI reported that INDIA bloc parties have decided to finalise seat sharing by the second week of January.

"All INDIA parties unanimously decided how to take the alliance forward. At least 8-10 meetings will be held together across the country. If alliance members don't come on the same stage people will not come to know of the alliance. Everyone agreed to it," he said. The Congress president said seat-sharing talks will be held at the state level, and if any issues arise, INDIA bloc leadership will address them.

"Whether Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Bihar, UP, Delhi or Punjab, the issues on seat sharing will be resolved," he said. Kharge also said INDIA parties passed a resolution condemning the suspension of opposition MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and will hold a protest on it on December 22.

Earlier in the day, the fourth meeting of INDIA bloc began in the national capital where top leaders discussed their plans going forward for taking on the BJP unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The meeting, held at the Ashoka Hotel here, was earlier scheduled for December 6 but was called off over the unavailability of key leaders. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were in attendance.

The opposition leaders deliberated on a blueprint for a joint campaign, seat-sharing arrangement and redrawing their strategy after the setback in the recent assembly polls.