INDIA leaders agree on Kharge as chairperson

Aditi Tandon & Shubhadeep Choudhary

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 13

Leadership issues dominated a key virtual meeting of INDIA bloc leaders with agreement on naming Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge chairperson of the anti-BJP coalition and a proposal to appoint Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar the convener. No formal announcement was made with sources saying Kharge would want to take Nitish on board as convener before making anything official.

Virtual alliance, virtual meetings

INDI Alliance is a virtual alliance and can only have virtual meets. All leaders of this Ghamandia coalition are neck deep in graft. JP Nadda, BJP Chief

TMC taunts cong over seeking more seats

• Hours after TMC’s Mamata Banerjee skipped INDIA bloc meet, her nephew Abhishek taunted the Congress for seeking more than its due in West Bengal LS seat pie
• Citing North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council poll results, he wrote on X, “Despite contesting NCHAC poll for first time, TMC won higher vote share than primary Opposition Cong. Their seat share aspirations in Bengal are akin to aiming for the stars when they couldn’t grasp the ground in own backyard!”
• The TMC has offered to Congress just two out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in a seat arrangement under INDIA

Meanwhile, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the senior-most member of the bloc, said there was no need to project a single face before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and a leader could be selected after the results. Pawar’s statement meant Kharge would not be projected as the prime ministerial face of the alliance and would chair it for negotiation and strategy purposes.

At the meeting, which TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, SP president Akhilesh Yadav and Shiv Sena UBT supremo Uddhav Thackeray skipped, consensus emerged on Kharge to chair the bloc.

“There was also agreement on Nitish as convener of the alliance. It was decided that Congress president will engage Mamata and Akhilesh on the convener-ship issue and inform them,” CPM’s D Raja said after the meeting, adding all attending leaders backed Nitish for the post.

Nitish, however, was non-committal to the offer. His aide Sanjay Kumar Jha, who also attended the meeting, said the proposal did come, but the Bihar CM had “not yet given approval to it”.

“Bihar CM has so far not given his approval to the proposal (of convener-ship). We will let you know after discussing the matter within the party,” Jha said, adding Nitish was not upset with Kharge as chief and in fact favoured a Congress leader as head of the bloc.

During the meeting, Pawar said there was no need to project one face ahead of the 18th Lok Sabha poll. “We will select the leader after the elections and we are confident of providing an alternative. In 1977, Morarji Desai was not projected as the PM face by the opposition,” the NCP supremo said.

Pawar also said there was no dispute on Nitish as convener, but the Bihar CM himself suggested there was no need for a convener. “There was a suggestion made by the bloc members that Nitish be appointed as its convener, but the latter said a team of party chiefs be formed and there is no need for a convener,” Pawar said.

D Raja said all leaders agreed to conclude LS seat sharing talks “as soon as possible”. The talks are progressing slowly with consensus awaited between Congress, NCP and Uddhav Sena in Maharashtra (48 Lok Sabha seats); TMC, Congress and CPM in Bengal (42 seats); Congress and CPM in Kerala (20 seats); and AAP and Congress in Punjab (13 seats), Delhi (7 seats), Haryana and Gujarat.

Discussions are underway in Maharashtra, where the Congress is flexing its muscle after the NCP-Shiv Sena split. There are reports of Congress’ former South Mumbai MP Milind Deora upset with Uddhav staking claim to the segment, which the Deora family held for 50 years (though Milind lost in 2014 and 2019).

In Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi, talks are progressing positively, sources said.

UP is tricky with Akhilesh conveying he would spare only 15 of the 80 LS seats, which the Congress and RLD must share between them. The BSP is unlikely to join the alliance despite Congress’ best efforts.

In Tamil Nadu (39 seats), DMK chief MK Stalin today said seat sharing would conclude after Pongal.

Kharge also invited all INDIA leaders to participate in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra starting from Manipur on Sunday. It is learnt INDIA leaders will meet again during or before the interim Budget session commencing from January 31 to finalise strategies and joint campaign issues for the 2024 General Election.