Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar and the leader of the JDU, declined on Saturday to lead the opposition coalition in a virtual meeting intended to talk about seat-sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, joining the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, and other alliance-related issues.
According to reports, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has been elected as the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc’s chairperson.
Remarkably, CM Kumar is said to have suggested that the established party step forward and assume leadership of the India bloc. JD(U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha responded to the significant development by stating, “The CM (Nitish Kumar) wanted that the INDIA alliance convener should be from Congress only.”
Distinguished I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders were present at the conference, while two prominent figures were conspicuously absent: Mamata Banerjee, the president of the Trinamool Congress, and Chief Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Through a video conference, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, the head of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Chief Minister Sharad Pawar of the NCP, and Chief Minister Stalin of Tamil Nadu joined the meeting. It is important to note that a grand coalition consisting of 26–28 political parties was created in advance of the 2024 Lok Sabha Election.
Mallikarjun Kharge was suggested as the prime ministerial candidate during the previous INDIA bloc meeting by Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and TMC party head Mamata Banerjee. Nevertheless, the opposition party’s PM face was still up for debate, according to news agency PTI.
However, Kharge earlier declared that “winning first is important” and “I work for the demoralized. First, let’s triumph, and then we’ll see. I have no desires.”
The government’s policies in the areas of international affairs, education, health, and agriculture have come under fire from the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. The BJP-led Central Government has been accused by a number of opposition figures, most notably Rahul Gandhi, of prioritizing Adani and other industrialists above those in need.
