INDIA Bloc Meeting | 'Focus on Winning First': Mallikarjun Kharge On His Name Being Proposed for PM Face

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India Alliance Meet LIVE Updates: In the backdrop of mass suspensions of MPs from the Parliament for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, 19 December, parties of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc met in New Delhi where strategies for seat sharing for the 2024 Lok sabha elections and probable names for the PM face were discussed.

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and AAP chef Arvind Kejriwal reportedly proposed the name of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to be the PM face of the alliance.

Watch Kharge's address to the media:

Most senior leaders including Sharad Pawar (NCP), Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Lalu Yadav (RJD), Nitish Kumar (JD(U)), Sonia Gandhi (Congress), Rahul Gandhi (Congress), Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), MK Stalin (DMK), and Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) are present in the meeting.

Key highlights of the meeting:

• A resolution was passed to condemn the suspension of 141 MPs from the Parliament.

• Nationwide protests against the suspension of MPs will be held on 22 December.

• The parties decided to discuss seat sharing at state level. The central leaders will intervene if a deadlock is reached.

• The parties agreed upon the fact that the message of unity will not resonate with the people if all top leaders do not come to show a united front.

• A total of 28 parties were present at the meeting.

• The only party chief who skipped the meeting was JMM's Hemant Soren, who the party said needed to be present at the ongoing Assembly session in Jharkhand.

• The meeting, which was earlier scheduled to take place on 6 December, was postponed to the third week of this month.

• This was the INDIA bloc's first meeting after the results of five state elections were declared, in which Congress won in Telangana while the BJP managed to win in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh.

• Opposition MPs staged protests in the Parliament premises over the suspension of MPs from the Parliament.

• Some of the MPs suspended on Tuesday include Supriya Sule (NCP), Farooq Abdullah (JKNC), Danish Ali (Ex-BSP), Manish Tewari (Congress), Karti Chidambaram (Congress), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Sudip Bandhopadhyay (TMC), Sushil Kumar Rinku (AAP), and Dimple Yadav (Samajwadi Party).

'PM Face Decision After Election'

"(Mallikarjun) Kharge said at the press conference that the decision on PM face will be taken after the elections. As far as seat-sharing is concerned, official announcement will made soon," said JD(U) leader Ravi Ranjan told PTI after the meeting.

'Kharge Rejected Declaring PM Face'

VCK MP Thol Thirumavalavan said that the Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal proposed that Mallikarjun Kharge must be the coordinator of this INDIA team and will be projected as the Prime Minister in the forthcoming elections.

"But Kharge ji rejected this categorically. He said - no need for this suggestion, after the election only we can decide who is the PM. He immediately rejected this point," he said.

'Seat Sharing Talks to Start Immediately': KC Venugopal

"It was a very successful, fruitful meeting. Everybody opened their mind and spoke, there was a little criticism here and there because we are 25-26 parties. The main focus was to finalise the seat sharing. A lot many things were discussed but everything can not be decided today itself. Seat-sharing discussions should be started immediately, that is what was discussed," Congress leader KC Venogopal said, as quoted by ANI.

'PM Face is a Matter for After We Win': Key Points of Kharge's Address

Here are the key quotes from Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's address:

• "The parties agree that unless all leaders come on the same stage, the message to the people does not go out."

• "We passed a resolution that the suspension of 151 MPs is undemocratic and against the idea of democracy."

• "The only issue we raised was how did they enter the House and go around the Parliament raising slogans."

• "We just want the Home Minister and PM to come to the House and apprise the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha of what happened. The House is functioning but they are inaugurating buildings in Ahmedabad, PM Modi is touring his constituency."

• "There will be a countrywide protest against the suspensions on 22 December."

• "One of the main points of INDIA bloc is that we will work together and go about the seat sharing. Our people in the states will coordinate with each other. If there are hurdles, then senior leaders will take care of it."

• "We have to win first. We have to think about how we will win. Who will become the Prime Minister is the matter for later. What's the use of discussing a PM face of there are no MPs? Hence, we will first work towards getting majority unitedly."