'Yes, proposed Kharge's name as INDIA bloc PM face', says Mamata

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday admitted that she proposed the name of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the prime ministerial candidate of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc.

While speaking to the media here, Banerjee, who also participated in the INDIA bloc fourth meeting on Tuesday said, “Yes, I have proposed Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's name. Arvind Kejriwal also supported my proposal."

She said that since everyone asks for the name of the prime ministerial face "thus we proposed the name of Kharge as our proposal".

"We supported his name as we don't have any issue with the face of Kharge as the INDIA bloc prime ministerial face and Kejriwal supported it," the Trinamool Congress chief said.

She was responding to a question if she proposed the name of Kharge as the prime ministerial candidate for the INDIA bloc.

When asked further if Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal(United) leader Nitish Kumar is angry with her move, she said, “I don’t have any information about that.”

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has also set the deadline for finalizing the seat sharing by December 31 during the Tuesday meeting of the INDIA bloc, which was also attended by CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Kharge and many other leaders from a total of 28 parties.

The first meeting of the INDIA alliance took place in Bihar's Patna on June 23 while the second meeting of the opposition parties took place in Karnataka's Bengaluru on July 17 and 18.

During the third meeting of the INDIA alliance in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1 this year, the 14-member coordination committee and 19-member election strategy committee were announced.

About 28 parties have come together to take on the BJP at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

During the meeting, every leader got the opportunity to share their views and suggestions.