PM candidate not the question, says Kharge as Congress stresses on Opposition unity for 2024

Kharge said BJP was attempting to polarise for electoral gains even as people were facing suffering from rising inflation and unemployment

Pitching for Opposition unity despite differences among them, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said the question was not about who will lead the alliance against BJP or who will be the Prime Minister nominee but about all like-minded parties coming together to fight the “divisive forces.”

In his address at the public meeting organised by the DMK on the occasion of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s 70th birthday, Kharge also said the Congress and DMK should continue to strengthen the alliance between them in Tamil Nadu keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Referring to former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah’s remarks that opposition parties should unite first without bothering about who will be the prime minister, Kharge said the Congress has sacrificed a “lot” for the sake of secularism and even tasted defeat in elections.

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“All like-minded opposition parties should come together against divisive forces. We are not telling who is going to be the prime minister or who is going to lead. That is not the question now. The Congress has made several sacrifices in the past for the sake of secularism. We have lost many times in the past (after sacrificing),” Kharge said.

“We want to fight together unitedly and this has been our desire. We are trying to unite all parties that are against divisive forces in the country. There may be differences between us. But we should come together and fight together,” the Congress President added.

Kharge also said the DMK and Congress are “ideological partners” in the fight against “divisive forces” of the country, while referring to “special connection” and “special bonding” that the Congress has always shared with the state of Tamil Nadu.

Accusing the BJP of concentrating only on “polarisation” after having pushed 23 crore people to below poverty line (BPL) and “gifting” youth with unemployment, Kharge said the people of Tamil Nadu will not yield “even an inch to the BJP.”

He also alleged that the BJP was trying to change the country’s Constitution and asked the opposition parties to “unite” for the sake of the country and to protect the Constitution.

Abdullah and Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav pushed for an anti-BJP front with all opposition parties on “one stage.” Abdullah also asked Stalin to move to the “national stage” and asked opposition parties to put up a spirited fight against the BJP by forgetting who will lead the alliance or who will become the prime minister.

“We need to work together. This message is for parties who are here and who are not here as well. We need to wake up and unite to ensure that all of us live in honour, dignity and peace,” the National Conference chief said, adding that J&K will “regain” its statehood status and “dignity.”