'Will take appropriate steps at right time': Mallikarjun Kharge says after INDIA meet
New Delhi: The INDIA bloc will sit in the opposition benches for now, even though Narendra Modi and the BJP are "subverting the will of the people," Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said Wednesday.
However, there was a caveat. "The INDIA bloc will continue to resist the fascist rule... We will take appropriate steps at the appropriate time to realise the people's desire not to be ruled by the BJP," he added.
The constituents of the INDIA Bloc thank the people of India for the overwhelming support received by our alliance. The people’s mandate has given a befitting reply to the BJP and their politics of hate, corruption and deprivation. This is a political and moral defeat of Prime… pic.twitter.com/oWyQSrxWBR
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) June 5, 2024
This was in reference to the Opposition's initial idea of trying to convince Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister-elect Chandrababu Naidu to support the bloc which amassed 232 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats with 99 from Congress alone.
However, the two erstwhile allies signed up the NDA earlier with formal letters of support, pouring cold water on the Opposition's hopes of a realignment that would put the INDIA bloc in the driver's seat.
On Wednesday, media reports quoting sources said the INDIA bloc could send feelers to erstwhile allies Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, and explore options to form government at the Centre.
Naidu was earlier part of the Opposition and Kumar has acquired a reputation of sorts for his frequent flip-flops.
The matter was initially made public by INDIA ally Uddhav Thackeray but Kharge had been circumspect, saying they would consult allies to decide the way forward.
"The INDIA alliance welcomes all parties which share its fundamental commitment to the values enshrined in the Preamble to our Constitution and to its many provisions for economic, social and political justice," the Congress chief said issuing an open invitation for future.
The Opposition, riding a high that came after a decade, has demanded the resignation of Narendra Modi, declaring that the results of the Lok Sabha Elections made it clear that the people want him to go.
Modi's BJP, which won 282 seats in 2014 and 303 in the 2019 election, won 240 seats this time, which is 32 short of the 272-majority mark.
The BJP is now banking on the 53 seats won by members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to form the government.
