In a decision significant in terms of the leadership structure of the INDIA alliance of opposition parties, the anti-BJP bloc on Saturday reached a consensus on making Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge its chairperson.
The decision, reached at a virtual meeting of the top leaders of INDIA parties, has not been officially announced yet because the leaders of the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Shiv Sena (UBT) were not present in the meet and have to be brought into the loop.
However, it is learnt that none of the INDIA alliance parties, present in today’s meeting or not, are opposed to the decision to have Kharge as the chairperson of the grouping.
As per sources, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury brought up for discussion the issue of appointing a chairperson and a convenor of the anti-BJP bloc of 29 parties. He suggested the names of Kharge and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as chairperson and convenor, respectively.
As per sources, while there was no pre-determined agenda for the meeting, the groundwork for the structural changes had been done through interactions Kharge had with INDIA leaders in the last several days.
All the 10 parties present in Saturday’s meeting agreed on the proposal to make the 80-year-old Congress veteran the chairperson of the alliance.
The issue of naming a convenor of the alliance was also discussed and Kumar appeared to be the popular choice for the post amongst the leaders present.
However, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have said that Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee needs to be brought on board with regard to this since she may have reservations on the issue.
It is learnt that Kumar said he is not an aspirant for the post and anybody can become the convenor. With the majority of the parties favouring Kumar, who had initiated the process of getting the opposition parties together and hosted the first meeting of the alliance in Patna, there is a possibility of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reaching out to her on the issue.
The meeting was conducted in the backdrop of reports that Kumar is upset about his perceived sidelining in the alliance and feels that there has been an inordinate delay in making him the convenor of the alliance.
Kejriwal called on Kharge after the INDIA meet. Rahul and AICC General Secretary in charge of Organisation K.C. Venugopal were present in the meeting. Kejriwal along with Mamata had in the previous INDIA alliance meeting suggested that Kharge be made the prime ministerial face of the alliance, arguing that projecting a Dalit leader for the top post would give the grouping a moral edge.
The meeting also took place in the midst of seat-sharing discussions between the two parties.