M.KHARGE—PROPOSED P.M. FACE

A GAMBLE FOR OPPOSITION I.N.D.I.A.

SARASIJ MAJUMDER

Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal thought they  bowled a SWINGING YORKER in the I.N.D.I.A. playground  to bowled out Mr. MODI--on meeting held on December 19, but they bowled out MA- BETA -BETI combination of Congress, with other P.M. ASPIRANTS.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's name was proposed as  the Opposition coalition's Prime Minister . It is yet to get majority approval.

It is understood,  12 of the 26 parties supported the move while the rest were sitting on wall. Kharge himself said the opposition should focus on winning the 2024 election, and the decision on selection of P.M. can wait.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has many times commented that  opposition  lack   “niti, niyati and netritva”  (policy, intention, leadership).

Mamata Banerjee and Kejriwal, both of whom are the established mass leaders of the alliance, are aware that in an increasingly presidential style of election, the ALLIANCE need to project a wining face before Election Campaign picks up.

Reasons for proposing Kharge:-

1.0 Mr. Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi could be  kept out of P.M. equation. Will Mrs. Gandhi accept this?? Will Nitish Bhai accept this??

2.0 The Alliance kept Congress as Lead Political Party. Mrs. Gandhi will have a problem to oppose Kharge—her own party president.

3.0 Sushree Mayavati is a silent NDA alliance with Dalit Background. It is an effort to neutralize her. Last time her party bagged 3.5++% votes.

4.0 17% Voters are from Dalit Community. 84 seats are reserved for Dalit’s candidate. Now, whether Dalits will get polarized, and  prefer only alliance of  Dalit P.M. candidate knowing it is  a Hotch-Potch alliance is another subject. Last time, BJP won 54 out of 84, securing over 40% Dalit votes.  Can Mr. Kharge change this equation?

5.0 Mr. Kharge is otherwise Senior most Leader also, and hence can be widely acceptable.

6.0 Alliance understood that Bharat Jodo Yatra of RA-GA  was a FLOP SHOW. The recent assembly election result established that. And, with disastrous show of Congress in recent Assembly election—this P.M. nomination candidate from Congress  may not sustain till election.

7.0 Mr. Nitish Kumar, and Mr. Akhilesh Yadav are also eliminated from P.M. race. "Ek Nischay, Ek Nitish (one resolve, one Nitish)" slogan from Patna is also neutralized. But Both Bihar Supremos showed their displeasure on this selection by leaving the meeting early.

8.0 According to some EXIT POLL—selection of P.M. FACE  is very important for winning parliamentary election. Alliance attempted to resolve this.

BUT:-

The ALLIANCE has some PM aspirants of nearly equal stature in Nitish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav,  Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, and MK Stalin - all of whom are waiting for their Deve Gowda moment (Deve Gowda became PM in an unexpected turn of events after the 1996 polls). Mamata Banerjee and Kejriwal have literally cancelled the rest from the race, including themselves for a RESULT.

One acceptable solution could be—the party which return maximum number of M.P.s—shall select the P.M. or opposition leader, as the case may turn out.

 

Information sources:--

1.0 TOI, IE, HT, news channels.