Days after the fourth meeting of the I.N.D.I.A bloc in New Delhi, a JD(U) MLA made derogatory remarks against Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, putting a question mark on the Opposition's unity. MLA Gopal Mandal said that the common public does not know Kharge and it is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who should become the Prime Minister candidate for the I.N.D.I.A bloc.
"Who is this 'Kharge Pharge'? The public doesn't know him. Even I wasn't aware he is the president of Congress...I just came to know through you (media)... Masses don't know him. The public knows Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar should become Prime Minister. He is popular across India," he told news agency ANI.
JD(U) MLA on I.N.D.I.A alliance
The JD(U) MLA from Gopalpur Assembly said that it was his party president Nitish Kumar who played a key role in establishing the I.N.D.I.A bloc. "Everything was done by Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar played the role of convenor when the alliance was named I.N.D.I.A. He gathered all the regional leaders and helped in bringing them together for meetings again and again. They should choose Nitish Kumar as the Prime Minister's face," he said.
Mandal also targeted Congress and said that it is a party that cannot be trusted by the public. "Congress party is not worth trusting. It was Congress under which people faced the brunt of inflation and rising prices. BJP came into power only due to their poor policies. Now, the BJP has taken inflation to another level. So why to pick faces of the past, pick new faces," he added.
The JD(U) MLA's statement came after Kharge's name was proposed as the prime ministerial candidate for the INDIA bloc by Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal in the bloc's fourth meeting held on December 19. However, the Congress chief played down suggestions about being the prime ministerial candidate of the I.N.D.I.A bloc for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and said the matter will be decided later and their priority is to try and get a majority. "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 have to win," Kharge told reporters after the meeting.
I.N.D.I.A bloc's 4th meeting
The fourth meeting of the Opposition bloc took place in the national capital and was attended by leaders from 28 parties. Congress leader KC Venugopal told reporters that the seat-sharing talks should start without delay and there is a proposal for "joint rallies" also. The meeting was held in view of escalating tensions between the government and the Opposition over the suspension of MPs during the winter session of Parliament.
The alliance, led by the Congress, took shape with the primary objective of mounting a combined challenge to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in next year's general elections. The first meeting of the joint opposition convened in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. The third meeting happened in Mumbai on August 31-September 1.
(With inputs from ANI)
