Mamata Doesn’t Mention Kharge, but Alludes to ‘Dalit PM’ Candidate: Congress Leader.
Mamata made reference to the Cong leader, a “Dalit PM,” without taking Kharge’s name.
The idea of being the PM face of the INDIA bloc was rejected by Mallikarjun Kharge, who stated that the priority at this time should be defeating the BJP.
The topic of the PM face came up at the opposition INDIA bloc’s fourth meeting when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who will challenge Prime Minister Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, received support from Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Party, and Arvind Kejriwal, the convener of the Aam Aadmi Party. While Congress leader PJ Joseph said Mamata did not adopt Kharge’s moniker and that the coalition would benefit if it projected a “Dalit PM,” Kharge rejected the idea and stated that the priority should be winning the elections.
She made no such suggestion. Mamata Banerjee mentioned that projecting a Dalit prime minister would be beneficial during her speech. She refrained from mentioning anyone’s name. Because she spoke last, there was little discussion of the issue, the Congress leader told news agency ANI. The Congress refrained from providing an official response to this proposal, and at the news conference that followed the meeting, Kharge stated that discussing the PM face at this time was pointless. “We must all succeed first, so let’s consider what has to be done to get there. It will be decided later who will be the PM. Is there any need to discuss PM if there are less MPs? First, by uniting, we shall attempt to bring a majority in order to grow our numbers. We’ll aim to win first,” Kharge declared.
Insiders claim that Kharge rejected the notion since he never adopted a Dalit caste politics and instead stood for the equality that he championed throughout his political career. He has been serving the underprivileged and has never presented himself as a head of a caste.
The designation of Kharge as the bloc’s PM face did not sit well with the RJD and JD(U). Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar left the meeting early so they could not attend the press conference.
During the fourth meeting of the INDIA bloc, a decision was made to resume the seat-sharing negotiations and to have some sort of settlement on seat-sharing in place by the end of the year among the states.
Meanwhile, the UP Congress pushed Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Kharge to run from the state in the Lok Sabha 2024. The party has historically maintained bases in Rae Bareli and Amethi, two politically significant states in Uttar Pradesh. According to UP Congress president Ajay Rai, “the Gandhi family has a personal rapport with the people of these constituencies.”