With 2024 LS polls in mind, Kharge calls up Opposition leaders
The Hindu
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge speaks to top Opposition leaders to carry forward the theme of Opposition unity in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has spoken to top Opposition leaders including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his Tamil Nadu counterpart M.K. Stalin and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in the past two-three days to carry forward the theme of Opposition unity in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
A source told The Hindu that Mr. Kharge’s calls to the top leaders were to explore the possibility of having a joint Opposition meet to carry forward the theme of Opposition unity that was witnessed after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha.
Though the Congress didn’t officially comment on the agenda of these phone calls, they are being seen as the first step to discussing the possibility of pre-poll alliance in crucial States that have as many as 127 Lok Sabha seats - Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu.
However, it is not clear if the Congress president will reach out to other key Opposition leaders like Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Telangana counterpart and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR).
In Bengal, the Congress had an electoral alliance with Trinamool’s arch-rivals, the Left parties, and in Telangana, the party has pitched itself as the main challenger to the KCR government.
“It was a follow-up of what was discussed and agreed to in the dinner hosted for floor leaders of the other Opposition parties at Kharge ji’s residence on March 27,” the source said, adding, “It is work in progress.”
At the dinner meet, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, in the presence of former Congress chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Mr. Rahul Gandhi, had made it clear that repeated attacks on Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar have created unease among Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies like the NCP and the Uddhav-led faction of the Shiv Sena.
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