A day after 28 political parties, all part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) met to flesh out details of a coordinated campaign against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, disquiet began to emerge within its ranks, with a senior leader of the Janata Dal (United) expressing displeasure at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s name being put forth as the prime ministerial candidate, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar going into a huddle with his top brass and calling for a meeting of his party’s national council on December 29, even as West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who made the suggestion, doubled down on it.
Read here: NDA leaders on ‘Kharge as PM’ call: ‘Trap to oust Rahul Gandhi’
The meeting of the Opposition grouping, which continued on Wednesday, its venue moving from Ashok Hotel in the Capital to Kharge’s residence, came against the backdrop of an acrimonious winter session of Parliament that has seen 143 Opposition MPs suspended, and three weeks after the Congress suffered an electoral blow when it lost elections in three key states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the BJP, although it wrested power in Telangana.
On Wednesday, a reportedly miffed Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar met with his party top brass, including members of Parliament in Delhi, and decided to convene the party’s national council meeting in the Capital on December 29. To be sure, the party’s national executive was already meant to meet on this date. But the council, leaders pointed out, has an expanded membership of 200 members from across the state while the executive has 99.
“The two meetings will be held on the same day,” confirmed party national secretary Afaque Ahmad. No reason was given for summoning the council’s meeting at short notice.
Senior party leaders, who admitted that there was unease within the party on the push for Kharge as the head of the bloc, said that the decision to convene the national council on the same day as the national executive was unusual, and often the precursor to key political decisions.
“This is definitely a pointer of some important decisions in the offing. The decision to convene the national council meeting has surprised everybody,” a senior JD(U) leader said on condition of anonymity.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the INDIA alliance, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who on Monday told reporters that it was premature to discuss leadership, sprang a surprise when she pitched for Kharge as the alliance’s prime ministerial candidate, a suggestion backed by both Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.
Banerjee said on Tuesday, “Everyone has been asking us who is the face of the alliance. I proposed Kharge’s name and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also backed my proposal.” People present in the meeting have claimed Kejriwal actually did more — pointing to the electoral advantage of fielding a Dalit PM candidate.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha confirmed that such a suggestion was made, adding that further decisions would come after dialogue and discussions. “Mallikarjun Kharge is a tall leader of our country… has had a wonderful career of over five decades, and besides being a political luminary, he is also a social reformer.”
To be sure, Kharge on Tuesday played down the suggestion, and said discussions on the alliance’s strategy and seat-sharing must precede any conversation on who the prime ministerial face will be. “In my political life, I have never used my Dalit identity for any post. I am a worker of the Congress. Our first objective is to win the elections,” he said. Addressing a press conference later on Tuesday, Kharge said, “Everyone has to come back victorious. Let us think about what to do to win. Who will become the Prime Minister is a matter that can be discussed later. What is the benefit of talking about the PM if there are no MP’s? Let is first unite and fight to increase our numbers to try to bring majority.”
But Banerjee’s airing of his name has highlighted contradictions the grouping must still overcome. Leaders of the JD(U) have for long pitched Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar as a potential candidate, arguing that he has the credentials to lead the opposition bloc.
In September, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh told a gathering in Harnaut, the seat from where Nitish Kumar was first elected to the state assembly in 1985, that they had produced a leader “who is ready to stand and lead the entire country”. While Kumar has made public remonstrations about these comments, ahead of the INDIA meeting in Delhi on Tuesday, posters presenting Kumar as a national leader popped up across Patna. “Agar sach mein jeet chahiye, ek nischay chahiye, ek Nitish chahiye (If we truly want to win, we need determination, we need Nitish),” they read.
On Wednesday, JD(U) member of Parliament Sunil Kumar Pintu went public with his anger against Banerjee’s suggestion, said that the Opposition meeting made no headway, and was reduced to a “chai-biscuit meeting.”
“The support to Kharge can be her (Banerjee’s) personal opinion,” Pintu added. To be sure, Pintu was part of the BJP till 2019, when he quit to fight the elections on the JD(U) ticket (the two parties were allies at the time) and has recently taken a position against the Bihar government’s flagship caste survey.
Madan Sahni, senior JD(U) leader and minister for social welfare too talked up Kumar’s role in the alliance: “Nobody in the INDIA alliance should take Nitish Kumar lightly or ignore him. The JD(U) will not accept that. If anybody in INDIA thinks that Nitish Kumar’s role is just to be in the alliance, then it will not last long. His role was important in the past, is important today, and will remain key in the future.”
Kumar is yet to comment on the meeting, but he left it early on Tuesday. Later on Wednesday, the senior leadership attempted to downplay suggestions of a rift. JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh said that Kumar left the meeting after informing Congress chief Kharge, and senior leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
“Nitish Kumar is not angry at all. He left the meeting after informing Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. It was decided in the meeting that only two or three persons will brief the media,” he said. Singh also said that the alliance will push on with seat-sharing talks in 15 to 20 days, and joint rallies will be held by alliance partners in every state.
On her part, Banerjee told reporters on Wednesday, “I have no such news of anyone being unhappy.”
Read here: Mamata did not take Kharge’s name but hinted at ‘Dalit PM’ face: Cong leader
The friction, however, does underline the competing interests that the INDIA alliance will have to paper over, particularly on difficult questions like leadership, and seat-sharing in states where the members have traditionally been pitted against the other.
On Tuesday, for instance, several leaders pointed out that in the 179 days that the alliance has existed, the only thing it has achieved consensus on is the name. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), in Tuesday’s meeting, pushed for seat-sharing arrangements to be finalised by December 31, a deadline some said was unrealistic. A tentative formula was discussed where state units of potential partners would discuss seat-sharing, and if there was a deadlock, national leaders would step in.
Aisha Patel is a dedicated Indian correspondent with a deep understanding of the nation’s diverse affairs. With a background in Indian culture, politics, and current events, she provides in-depth analysis and timely reporting on domestic issues within India.
