Talks are underway on seat sharing for the Lok Sabha elections between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the constituents of the India Alliance of opposition parties ready to stop the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A virtual meeting is expected to be held on Wednesday, in which Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may be appointed as the national coordinator of the alliance.
At the same time, there is also talk of appointing Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as the President or Chairperson of India Alliance. Along with this, sources also said that these days they are pressurizing RJD to hold assembly elections along with Lok Sabha.
The Indian Express, quoting sources from Nitish Kumar’s party Janata Dal (United), Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left parties in Bihar, has said that the Congress is now planning to leave the post of national convenor to keep JDU in the alliance. Ready for.
A Congress leader said, “Rahul Gandhi is leaving on an important visit, we want to continue the momentum of the visit. Efforts to unite the opposition will fail if Nitish Kumar moves to the BJP-led NDA. Most of the members of the India alliance are worried about this.”
However, he said that Congress will maintain its primacy as the leading party in the alliance by keeping the post of national president or chairperson with Kharge.
RJD was initially not keen on Nitish Kumar getting the post of convenor in the India alliance, but now it has also started considering it.
RJD hopes that with the Chief Minister of Bihar focusing more on national politics, the reins of Bihar may come into the hands of Tejashwi Yadav. A party leader said, “RJD has been under pressure for some time from the JDU camp to agree to Nitish Kumar’s idea of simultaneous elections.
Nitish Kumar is trying to convince the RJD that if the assembly elections are held along with the Lok Sabha elections, then the grand alliance can not only achieve a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections but can also bring the BJP’s tally of 78 seats below 50. “
Congress leaders in Bihar said the opposition alliance should focus on Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Odisha. There are a total of 179 Lok Sabha seats here and where there is a possibility of winning the most seats. The ruling party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha has mostly sided with the BJP in Parliament.
A source in the India Alliance said, “Nitish Kumar, along with Lalu Prasad, Congress and the Left parties, is in a position to win 25-30 seats. Since Nitish was the prime mover of opposition unity, he should be given due importance. Even if he is made the convener, it does not mean that he is a candidate for the post of PM.”
However, JDU has officially maintained silence about the possibility of Nitish Kumar being appointed as the coordinator of the alliance.
The party’s chief national spokesperson KC Tyagi said, “We have not heard anything from the Congress on this subject. But we will welcome any such step.
If Kharge is made the president, it will prove to be a good card because he is a Dalit. Making Nitish Kumar the convenor is a good idea as he has played an important role in bringing parties of different colors and sizes on a single platform.”