'Kharge-for-PM' call at INDIA meet: Rahul Gandhi speaks to 'upset' Nitish Kumar
Rahul and Nitish also discussed the strength of the Opposition alliance during their telephonic conversation, media reports said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday (December 22) telephoned Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to soften him after he got "upset" over a suggestion that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge should be the INDIA bloc’s prime ministerial candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress MP reached out to the Janata Dal (United) leader who played a key role in the formation of the INDIA alliance and who is known to nurture prime ministerial ambitions despite holding a contrary stand publicly.
Rahul and Nitish also discussed the strength of the Opposition alliance during their telephone conversation, media reports said.
According to JD(U) sources, Rahul clarified the Congress' view on Kharge's name being proposed for the prime ministerial face on Tuesday by chief ministers Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal and Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi at a meeting of the INDIA partners.
Banerjee and Kejriwal said Kharge could be the first Dalit prime minister of the country, but the Congress chief quickly turned down the idea, saying it was important for INDIA to win the general elections first.
Nitish also reportedly told Rahul that he was ready to increase the number of Congress ministers in his Bihar Cabinet. Nitish had hit out at the Congress after it was routed in Assembly elections by the BJP in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which it fought on its own without sharing seats with any of the allies.
On Thursday, the Congress said its candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha battle will be decided soon and asserted that it would take all necessary steps to make the INDIA bloc an effective force against the BJP and its allies.