We all want Rahul to become PM: Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday said like other parties Congress members too wanted to see their leader Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister.

Speaking to ANI ahead of the third opposition meeting in Mumbai, Nirupam said, "Like other parties, Congress workers and we all want Rahul Gandhi to become the Prime Minister. But this decision has to be taken jointly by all the parties of the alliance".

On Wednesday, the Aam Admi Party spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar also shared the same sentiments forcing the party to clarify that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was not at all in the race to become Prime Minister.

Significantly, Nitish Kumar also reiterated that he has no prime ministerial ambitions but will lead the opposition's efforts to fight against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP took a dig at the INDIA alliance claiming that everyone in the alliance was only aspiring to become Prime Minister and the alliance partners were deeply embroiled in corruption.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said "There is a game of musical chairs on between the alliance partners. This kind of alliance was formed earlier as well but by the time the elections came they started fighting amongst themselves."

"The meeting of 'Ghamandia Gathbandhan' is going to take place in Mumbai today. These parties have done scams and corruption worth Rs 20,000 lakh crores. It's a selfish alliance. Their agenda is maximum profit from corruption." Patra added.

As the battle heats up for next year's Lok Sabha elections, the 26-member Opposition bloc — INDIA — will on Thursday hold its third meeting in Mumbai, picking up from where they left off in their last huddle at Bengaluru and carrying forward the process of laying a broader roadmap against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.

While the discussion among the partner leaders in the bloc would center on the battle plan for the next general elections and a seat-sharing formula, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is also likely to unveil its logo during the two-day meeting starting Thursday.

The INDIA leaders would go into an informal huddle on Thursday and the same would be followed by a formal meeting on September 1.

While the inaugural meeting of the Opposition bloc was convened by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the third meeting is being organised by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Opposition alliance in Maharashtra comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by Sharad Pawar.