Bihar CM Nitish Kumar declines convenor post of INDIA alliance

New Delhi [India] : Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) national president Nitish Kumar on Saturday rejected the post of convenor of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, sources said. According to sources the Bihar CM suggested that someone from the Congress should take responsibility of the post. 

A virtual meeting of INDIA bloc leaders began on Saturday afternoon to review the seat-sharing agenda, participation in Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and other matters related to the alliance. 

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar attended the meeting of INDIA bloc leaders via video conferencing in Mumbai. 

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin and party leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi attended the meeting via video conferencing in Chennai. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was absent as she was attending a pre-decided state program. 

Earlier in its last meeting Mamata Banerjee and SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav had proposed the name of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as the Prime Ministerial candidate. 

INDIA or ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’ is a group of opposition parties, including the Congress. The parties have come together to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and prevent it from winning a third straight term at the Centre in the Lok Sabha elections. 

Meanwhile there are parallel meeting are on with the Congress’ alliance committee taking the lead in consulting with various parties of the INDIA bloc on state level alliances. On Friday there was a meeting of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party leaders on Friday evening regarding seat sharing. The meeting lasted for about two hours at Mukul Wasnik’s house, and the leaders of both parties described the meeting as a positive move, as per sources. On Saturday the Congress alliance committee is meeting leaders from Jharkhand to continue efforts to stitch up the alliance. 

As the Lok Sabha elections draw near, India’s political landscape is undergoing a significant reshuffling. The emerging INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) consortium is gearing up to challenge the established National Democratic Alliance, setting the stage for an electoral showdown. 

Earlier in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the NDA won 353 seats, the UPA stood at 91, and Others won 98. The voting was staggered in seven phases between April 11 and May 19, in which around 67 per cent of the nearly 900 million eligible people exercised their franchise to elect 542 members of the Lok Sabha.