Trying to convince angry Nitish in the name of Kharge, Rahul Gandhi himself called

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after his alleged resentment over the call of ‘Mallikarjun Kharge for PM’ at the India Block meeting. According to Janata Dal (United) sources, Rahul on Tuesday clarified the Congress’s stand when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed Kharge’s name for the post of Prime Minister. Banerjee and Kejriwal had said that Kharge could be the country’s first Dalit Prime Minister, but no decision was taken on this. Several leaders, including MDMK leader Vaiko, confirmed this after the opposition group meeting and said Kharge told the leaders that it was important to win first and increase the strength of the alliance while everything else could be decided later. Rahul and Nitish also discussed the strength of the alliance during the phone conversation. During their talks on Bihar cabinet expansion, while Rahul stressed on Nitish’s role, the Bihar Chief Minister told Gandhi that he was unaware of the proposal regarding Kharge. According to sources, Nitish also assured Rahul Gandhi that he is ready to increase the number of Congress ministers in the cabinet at any time. Apart from this, Nitish blamed the lack of clarity from Lalu Yadav regarding the delay in cabinet expansion. The Congress said its candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be decided very soon and said it will take all necessary steps to make India an effective stronghold against the ruling BJP and its allies.