English
New Delhi: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge was on Saturday named the chairperson of the Opposition INDIA bloc, according to reports. The development comes as leaders of the INDIA bloc held a virtual meeting to review the seat-sharing agenda, participation in Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and other matters related to the alliance.
According to news agency ANI, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar rejected the convenor of the INDIA alliance in the meeting. According to a report by The Indian Express, Kumar said he would only accept the role if all parties were in agreement. A final call on the convenor post will be taken after a discussion with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Reportedly, the JD(U) had been of the view that Kharge should be appointed as the chairperson of the alliance and Kumar the convener — the combination that it felt would send a positive signal to the people in the absence of a prime ministerial face for the bloc in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
INDIA or ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’ is a group of opposition parties, including the Congress.
The meeting was attended virtually by heads of a slew of parties who are members of the bloc’s coordination committee, including Kharge, NCP president Sharad Pawar, DMK president and Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin and AAP convener, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and party leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi attended the meeting via video conferencing in Chennai.
Trinamool Congress has welcomed the decision to appoint Mallikarjun Kharge as the Chairperson of INDIA bloc. “This is what Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said before. There was point in stirring up the matter for such a long time,” the Trinamool Congress Spokesman Kunal Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anurag Thakur, who arrived in Kolkata on Saturday, ridiculed the virtual meeting of the INDIA bloc. He said that they (INDIA bloc) neither have any proper leader to lead nor has it any policy for the country.
“In West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is saying something while Mamata Banerjee is saying completely opposite. How will this bloc survive with such egos?” Thakur questioned.
West Bengal Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that such comments are reflections of fear which the INDIA bloc has created in the BJP camp.
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