INDIA bloc in search of 'Kejriwal of 2024' against Modi in Varanasi

New Delhi: Fielding a strong joint opposition candidate from Varanasi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was among the proposals discussed at the fourth meeting of the INDIA bloc, sources said.

At the meeting held here on Tuesday, the opposition parties agreed that some out of the box ideas were required to counter the BJP in the polls.

One of the ideas discussed was to have a united opposition candidate to fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, the sources said.

In 2014 parliamentary polls, Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal had fought against Modi from Varanasi, and lost by a margin of 3.37 lakh votes.

In 2019, there was a buzz that Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra might fight from Varanasi. However, the Congress fielded Ajay Rai while Samajwadi Party fielded Shalini Yadav. Modi won the elections bagging over 60 per cent of the votes.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar earlier this month announced that he would hold a rally in Varanasi. However, the rally was cancelled as they could not get a permission.

At the INDIA bloc meeting, while seat sharing remained in focus, the leaders also discussed about holding joint rallies and public meetings.

Meanwhile, amid murmurs about the Bihar CM being upset about Mamata Banerjee's proposal to make Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge the prime ministerial face of the opposition alliance, the West Bengal CM said on Wednesday she made the proposal as the question of who would be the face of the alliance had been raised repeatedly.

Speaking to media on Wednesday, Banerjee said, "We proposed Kharge ji's name because everyone asks for a face, so I made a proposal that if Kharge ji is the face I have no problem, and it was supported by Arvind ji." Asked if Nitish Kumar was upset over her proposal, she said, "I have no such information".

Asked about the proposal, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha said the proposal was shot down by the Congress chief himself, so there is no point in discussing it.