According to sources, Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, was elected as the chairperson of the opposition bloc in INDIA on Saturday. The news agency ANI reported that Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar and leader of the JD(U) party, declined the role of coordinating the Opposition alliance during a virtual meeting on seat-sharing.
While the meeting saw the presence of many key leaders from the JD(U) party, the absence of Uddhav Thackeray and Mamata Banerjee from the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Trinamool Congress, respectively, was quite noticeable.
On Saturday, leaders of the INDIA bloc convened online to discuss various matters, including participating in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and seat-sharing arrangements. Although Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not attend the meeting, Sharad Pawar from the NCP participated through video chat from Mumbai. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi of the DMK and MK Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, joined the discussion from Chennai. The Aam Aadmi Party and Congress leaders held a meeting on Friday to deliberate on seat-sharing, deeming it a positive move.