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.
