Taking to X (formerly Twitter) Indian National Congress (INC) president Mallikarjun Kharge said that a virtual meeting of the leaders of the INDIA Coordination Committee was held today. The Coordination Committee, he said, had a “fruitful discussion” on the INDIA bloc. Kharge also wrote that everyone is happy that the seat-sharing talks are progressing in a positive way. “We also discussed about joint programs in the coming days by INDIA Parties,” the Congress president said.
Talking about the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is set to begin from Tomorrow (January, 14), the Congress president said that he and Rahul Gandhi invited all Indian parties to join ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’. He also urged the parties to use the Yathra as an “opportunity to raise the social, political and economic issues plaguing common people of this country.”
Rahul-Gandhi’s second phase of the Bharat Jodo Yathra, renamed as Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, is expected to be a political booster for the Congress party. It is also projected to make a significant impact by reviving the spirit of the people at the grassroots level. Amid concerns regarding the Manipur government’s denial of the venue for the Yathra, Congress had asserted that it would go ahead with the “program at any cost,” as per the comment from the party General Secretary KC Venugopal. Manipur government has, however, given a conditional nod for the event
In the virtual meeting held today, Kharge has been named the chief of the INDIA bloc. Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar, another widely discussed figure for the position of the bloc’s convenor, was also selected as its convenor. However, He has temporarily chosen to retreat from the race to the convenor position citing that he would accept the position only if there is a consensus among the bloc’s members, The Indian Express reported quoting an anonymous source.
According to the report, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the virtual meeting. TMC’s seat-sharing talk with Congress had not found the expected result earlier. In addition, the TMC was also not good with Nitish Kumar as the bloc’s convenor.