Leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) alliance will meet at Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge's house on Wednesday at 6 pm to decide the strategy to form the government. There will also be discussions on whether to reach out to Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar and and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu to form the government or not.
They will also deliberate on the Lok Sabha election results 2024. Opposition leaders including Sharad Pawar, MK Stalin, Champai Soren, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Sitaram Yechury and D Raja are likely to be present at the meeting. Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi will also be present at the meeting, news agency PTI reported.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee will not be present at the meeting. NCP (SP) leader and Baramati MP Supriya Sule told India Today that a Shiv Sena (UBT) representative will be there at the meeting. The TMC will be represented by Abhishek Banerjee, who would be coming from Kolkata.
Before the INDIA alliance meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that the party will back Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate if he is ready to accept leadership.
"If Rahul Gandhi is ready to accept the leadership, why would we object? He is a national leader and has proven himself. He is popular. We all love him. In the INDIA alliance, there is no difference of opinion on who will be the Prime Minister," Raut said.
Earlier in the day, JD(S) leader and BJP ally HD Kumaraswamy said the Congress' bid to form the government will not happen. He said that he would be participating on behalf of the JD(S) in the NDA meeting to be held in Delhi today.
Commenting on the Congress' exercise to form the government, Kumaraswamy said, "Nothing will happen."
Previously, Rahul Gandhi said at the Congress party's press conference after the election results that the Congress will not take any decision on government formation without consulting its allies. He also did not comment on whether the INDIA bloc will reach out to the TDP and the JD(U) or not.