When asked if he wants to see Rahul Gandhi as the face of the Congress-led INDIA alliance in the upcoming general elections, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, also a Congress leader, said that he feels Rahul Gandhi should be the prime ministerial face of the alliance in 2024. Chief Minister Baghel was speaking to the Press Trust of India. He also said that the BJP is worried about Rahul Gandhi”s popularity and that is why they tried to disqualify him from Parliament. However, the Supreme Court stayed his conviction and restored his membership.
“The BJP is very scared of Rahul Gandhi, that is why he was disqualified from Lok Sabha…made to vacate his bungalow,” Chief Minister Baghel told PTI.
When asked about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra”s prospects in the coming general elections, Mr Baghel said, “We would like to see Priyanka Gandhi in Parliament. She is our star campaigner.”
Apart from Congress, the INDIA alliance, a political formation to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA alliance in the 2024 general elections, include Sharad Pawar”s NCP, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC, MK Stalin’s DMK, Arving Kejriwal-led AAP, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), Lalu Yadav’s RJD, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Akhilesh Yadav’s SP among many other anti-BJP regional parties.
Mr Bhagel is not the only Congress leader to name Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial face of INDIA, right after his comment, the newly appointed Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai has also pitched for Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier this week, another Congress Leader PL Punia had opined that the Prime Minister for the INDIA alliance will be decided after coming to power.
INDIA alliance members are set to meet in Mumbai later this month.