'Let's win first', says Kharge after Didi, Kejri propose him as INDIA PM face

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday proposed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's name as the opposition INDIA bloc's PM candidate, saying he could be the "first Dalit prime minister" of the country, but no decision was taken on it.

Several leaders, including MDMK leader Vaiko, confirmed this after the meeting of the opposition grouping and said Kharge told the leaders that it is important to win first and increase the strength of the alliance while everything else can be decided later.

After his name was proposed as a candidate to become the country's first Dalit prime minister at a meeting attended by leaders of 28 opposition parties, Kharge said, "I work for the downtrodden. Let's win first, then we will see. I don't seek anything."

"We have to first win, and who will be the prime minister is a matter to be decided later. First, we have to get a majority and increase our strength, then MPs will decide democratically," Kharge later told reporters when asked if his name was finalised as the PM face of the opposition alliance.

Kharge also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was showing "arrogance" after the recent victory in assembly polls "as if they will be in power forever".

Sources said Mamata Banerjee also proposed that Kharge be made the convenor of a committee to oversee seat sharing between the INDIA bloc constituents in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

However, no decision was taken on this proposal also.

"When so many political parties are together, it is a democracy, with different states, different views and different opinions, but ultimately INDIA is a platform where we are fighting together," Banerjee had said earlier.

"The BJP doesn't have any allies. The NDA is gone. We are not like that. It will be better, after the elections, we have to see the results, and then announce the PM candidate. All parties will decide that," she had said.

"You can decide how a party can do better for the people and motherland. You have to give priority to the people of India. What is going on right now is autocracy,'' she said.

Govt-Oppn standoff: 49 more Lok Sabha MPs suspended, total 141

As many as 49 more opposition lawmakers were suspended from Lok Sabha on Tuesday for unruly behaviour, taking the total number of MPs facing action in both Houses of Parliament to 141 and prompting the INDIA coalition to announce nationwide anti-government protests on Friday.

While the opposition bloc slammed as "undemocratic" the suspension of MPs for display of placards demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the December 13 security breach in Parliament, the government justified the action.

A row broke out as Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee derisively mimicked Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar during the opposition's protest on the stairs of Parliament.

Rahul Gandhi was seen making a video of the performance by Banerjee who appeared to mimic the way Dhankhar walked.

Seat-sharing to be finalised soon at state-level

The INDIA bloc decided that seat-sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls would be finalised as soon as possible with the exercise beginning at the state level.

While the TMC insisted that the seat-sharing should be finalised by December 31, the Congress asserted it could be sealed by the second week of January.

According to sources, the TMC proposed that the Congress can fight 300 seats and let Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav be captain in Uttar Pradesh, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and Punjab, and the TMC in West Bengal. (PTI)