Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Ahead of general elections that are due next year, Congress Working Committee member Shashi Tharoor said he feels that if the I.N.D.I.A alliance gets power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party may nominate either its president Mallikarjun Kharge or former AICC president Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister.
"So we'll have to wait and see", he said during an event.
Kharge or Rahul Gandhi
Talking about the post-poll scenario, he said, "I think that once the result comes out, then because it's a coalition and not one party, the leaders of those parties will have to get together and pick someone. But my guess is that from the Congress Party, it's going to be either Mr. Kharge, who then will be the first Dalit prime minister of India, or Rahul Gandhi, since in very many ways it (Congress) is a family-run party."
Tharoor, who is a former union minister, said the Prime Minister is the first among equals, and he was confident in his ability to perform whatever responsibilities may be assigned to him.
Tharoor issues clarification
Tharoor took to X, formerly Twitter, and issued a clarification on his remark stating that it was "made at a private event and was not a formal statement".
"I see that a remark I made at a private event, which was not a formal statement crafted for public consumption, is being misrepresented by the usual people. Yes, I have frequently stated that the Nehru/Gandhi family's DNA is inextricably tied up with that of the Congress Party. The family is the strength of the party. What I left unstated is that I have no doubt that @RahulGandhi would be the overwhelming choice of Congress party workers in any poll within the party," he posted.
I.N.D.I.A alliance
A total of 28 opposition parties cleared their first hurdle of coming under a common banner, they brace for a bumpy road ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, from ironing out differences among constituents in states to seat sharing and choosing a leader for their I.N.D.I.A alliance.
The alliance -- Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) -- has resolved to save the character of the republic "being severely assaulted in a systematic manner by the BJP" and safeguard the idea of India as enshrined in the Constitution.
(with inputs from PTI)
