SIVAGANGA: The INDIA alliance doesn't feel a necessity to announce a PM candidate ahead of the 2024 general elections, said former union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday. Addressing media persons here, he recalled that his party had not announced a PM face even before the 2004 elections.
"But, we came to power and governed the country under the leadership of Manmohan Singh. Our alliance parties have won four out of seven recent bypolls in the country. We are holding seat-sharing discussions with parties based on state-level requirements. The discussions for Kerala and Bihar are almost over, and seat-sharing in Tamil Nadu also will be finalised soon," he said.
Referring to 'Bharat' being used instead of 'India' on several recent national invites, Chidambaram said, "They want to change the country's name now because of our alliance's name. What will they do if we change the alliance name to 'Bharat'? Also, the BJP wants to implement the 'One Nation One Election' plan to further weaken the state government."
When asked about the controversy around Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks on the Sanatana Dharma, the former union minister said he did not want to get into the issue. "Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal have clearly said that our party's ideology is Sarva Dharma Sambhava (equal respect for all religions)," he added.