“The elected leaders she sent to Parliament are responsible, dutiful, and well-aware people. Therefore, she has the right to say so,” Pawar had said.On Tuesday, Lalu attacked the Congress, which currently leads the grouping, saying, “The Congress’ reservations amount to nothing. Mamata should be given the leadership role.”YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP Vijayasai Reddy has also said that the TMC supremo could better handle INDIA bloc parties. YSRCP is not a part of the bloc.Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav had on Monday rejected reports of a rift within the INDIA bloc over Banerjee’s leadership pitch, saying “all is well” in the opposition camp.”Anyone can say that, no one comes to politics to be a saint, everyone has ambition, but a collective decision is taken,” Yadav told PTI outside Parliament.Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has also indicated that his party was open to discussing if someone outside the Congress should lead the INDIA bloc. Talking to reporters in Delhi, Raut, a Rajya Sabha member, said his party’s ties with the Congress leadership including Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were “excellent.”Congress is a national party and has the highest number of MPs among the INDIA allies, he noted.”Still, if the INDIA bloc is to be strengthened again, everyone wishes to discuss (issues related to) leadership, who can give time to the alliance….(whether it could be) Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray, Lalu Prasad, Sharad Pawar or Akhilesh Yadav,” Raut said.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is at present the chairman of the Opposition grouping, formed before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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