INDIA convenor decision within a fortnight, says Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday issued his response on the much-debated question of “who will lead the INDIA bloc as its convenor” and said that the decision will be taken in the next 10-15 days.

Responding to the query amid the rumours of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s name being considered for the responsibility, Kharge said, “The question of ‘who will be INDIA bloc’s convenor’ is like Kaun Banega Crorepati? It will be decided in the next 10-15 days when we hold a meeting. Don’t worry about it.”

With all the gamble being played on who will take over as the convenor of the INDIA bloc, speculations were rife that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to be placed at the post. According to reports, a virtual meeting of opposition parties is scheduled to take place this week to take a decision in the matter.

In 2022, Nitish Kumar ditched the BJP-rule NDA alliance and joined the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ that includes Congress, RJD and three other parties. Notably, Kumar is suspected to have national ambitions and therefore, also vowed to bring all Opposition parties together to oust BJP out of power in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar again took over the command of his own party – Janata Dal (United) – last week after Rajiv Ranjan Singh, aka Lalan Singh, stepped down as JD(U) national president at the national executive meeting which was held in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, during the last INDIA bloc meet, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal pitched Mallikarjun Kharge as the Prime Ministerial face of the INDIA bloc. However, the Congress president made it clear that it was important to “win first and then take decisions on such matters”.

At the meeting, Kejriwal told the meeting that Congress should take the lead in taking the bloc forward while Mamata argued that the alliance would need a face, news agency PTI reported citing its sources.

With inputs from News18