INDIA bloc meeting concludes, parties to protest against suspension of MPs
Over 60 leaders from 28 political parties across the nation attended the meeting
Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal proposed Mallikarjun Kharghe’s name for the PM face
Updated: Dec 20th, 2023
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| Image: IANS |
A fresh political porridge is being cooked in the national capital as the meeting of the opposition came to an end on the chilly evening of Dec 19.
The fourth crucial meeting of INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) concluded with over 60 leaders from 28 political parties arriving at the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi where discussions led to the senior party members dropping names for the face of the party.
Leaders across India assembled in Delhi
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal were present at the meeting.
West Bengal chief minister (CM) chief Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Singh Mann and party leader Raghav Chadha, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also attended the meeting.
JD-U president Rajiv Ranjan aka Lalan Singh, Lalu Prasad Yadav, his son and Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Sanjay Raut, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav were also present.
Who will be the face of INDIA?
Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal proposed Mallikarjun Kharghe’s name for the prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
However, sources said that Kharge asked the leaders to first focus on winning more seats in the 2024 General Elections and bringing the INDIA bloc to power. He also added that he had already got many posts during his lifetime and everyone should first focus on winning.
The source also said that the seat sharing discussions will begin from today (Dec 20) and are likely to be completed by the end of December.
During the post meeting press conference Kharge reinstated, “Our first priority is to win more seats and bring the alliance into power. Then the talks on the prime ministerial candidate will be discussed.”
The source also said that eight to ten joint public meetings will be planned from January onwards.
Protest against the suspension
The suspension of 141 MPs was also discussed in the meeting.
“A resolution was also passed against the BJP government for suspending the MPs in an undemocratic manner. If we need to save the country and democracy then we need to fight together,” Kharge said.
He said that the issue (Parliament security breach) which they raised in the House was not wrong.
“The issue is about two people entering the chamber. Who brought them? How did they manage to run across the chamber? We are only saying that the prime minister and home minister should come to Parliament and inform the House about what happened in the Parliament but they didn’t agree to our demands,” Kharge said.
He said that they (Modi and Shah) are travelling across the country when the Parliament is in session.
“They gave speeches everywhere but they did not come to the House. Their agenda to end democracy is visible,” he said.
He said that it is for the first time in independent history that such a large number of MPs have been suspended.
“This is wrong. We will fight and go to people. Do they (prime minister and home minister) think that no one is capable of running the government? We will end this mindset. We have come together to defeat them,” he said.
He said that the INDIA bloc has decided to protest against the suspension of MPs on Dec 22 across the country.
“We will work together on the seat sharing. The state leaders will first discuss the seat sharing. If there will be any hiccups among the state leaders then we will discuss it in Delhi,” Kharge said.
(With inputs from IANS)
