NEW DELHI: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said that INDIA bloc parties will focus on seat-sharing talks at the state level and hold public meetings across the country, stressing that any decision on the prime ministerial candidate will be taken after the elections.
Sources said INDIA bloc parties have decided to finalise seat sharing by the second week of January.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting of top leaders of the INDIA bloc here, Kharge said, "All INDIA parties unanimously decided how to take the alliance forward. At least 8-10 meetings will be done together across the country."
"If alliance members don't come on the same stage people will not come to know of the alliance. Everyone agreed to it," he said.
The Congress president said seat-sharing talks will be held at the state level, and if any issues arise, INDIA bloc leadership will address them.
"Whether Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Bihar, UP, Delhi or Punjab, the issues on seat sharing will be resolved," he said.
Asked about the prime ministerial face of the alliance, he said, "We have to win first, and think what to do to win. What is the point in discussing PM before having MPs. We will try to get a majority together".
Meanwhile, several leaders including TMC's Mamta Banerjee, and AAP's Arvind Kejriwal proposed the Congress president's name as the Opposition's face for Prime Minister for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The proposal was reportedly made at the fourth meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc which was held in Delhi on Tuesday, where top leaders discussed the way forward, including seat-sharing, for taking on the BJP in the upcoming general elections.
Kharge also said INDIA parties passed a resolution condemning the suspension of opposition MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and will hold a protest on it on December 22.
However, the Congress president said the opposition will first unite to bring a majority, even as he neither confirmed nor denied the proposal.
Talking to the reporters, Kejriwal said that the opposition meeting went well and the discussions on campaigning, and seat sharing were made.
Senior leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi were present at the meeting of INDIA alliance in Delhi. Besides, Mamata, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar were also in attendance.
The alliance aims to take on the BJP, especially after the Congress suffered a setback in the recent assembly polls. Mamata Banerjee expressed confidence that all differences, including seat-sharing, would be ironed out and that a three-way alliance between the TMC, Congress, and Left was possible in West Bengal.
The alliance held its first meeting in Patna on June 23, the second meeting in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, and the third in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.
Earlier, Mamata Banerjee had expressed confidence that the members of the alliance would iron out all differences, including on the issue of seat sharing. She told reporters in New Delhi that a three-way alliance was “very much possible” in West Bengal between the TMC, the Congress, and the Left.
(With inputs from Online Desk)