Ahead of INDIA bloc’s coordination committee meeting, the Janta Dal-United or JD-U has pitched Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the Opposition’s Prime Ministerial face for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a large gathering in Nalanda on Tuesday, JD-U party president Rajiv Ranjan Singh announced that the Bihar CM is ready to lead the country.

“Your leader is ready to lead the country,” the president of Nitish Kumar’s party JD-U declared in Nalanda, according to a Times of India report. Interestingly, Nitish Kumar himself has on several occasions denied having any ambitions to become the Prime Minister.

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As many as 28 Opposition parties have come together to form an alliance to country the mighty BJP-led NDA in the next year’s Lok Sabha elections. They have named their alliance INDIA – an acronym for Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance.

A coordination committee of the INDIA alliance is scheduled for Wednesday where leaders from member parties will sit together to discuss the seat sharing pact. Joint campaign rallies will also be decided during the coordination committee meeting in Delhi.

Earlier this month, Opposition leaders of at least 28 parties gathered in the financial capital of Mumbai to plan their strategy and roadmap for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. During the meeting, the INDIA alliance bloc resolved to fight the next year’s general elections together “as far as possible”.

Also Read: ‘Give and take’ seat sharing pact soon as INDIA bloc resolves to fight 2024 LS polls together

“We, the INDIA parties, hereby resolve to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections together as far as possible,” the resolution of the INDIA alliance said.

Amid the buzz  over ‘One Nation One Election’, the Opposition leaders also resolved to reach a seat sharing pact in a “collaborative spirit of give and take”. The Modi government has formed a committee to explore the possibilities of simultaneous state and Lok Sabha elections. While the leaders of INIDA bloc denounced the move, they decided to fast track their seat sharing arrangement.

On the question of their prime ministerial face, the alliance partners have so far mentioned that their primary goal is to defeat the BJP and a decision on their leader would be taken after the polls. However, it would be interesting to see how INDIA bloc reacts on JD-U push for Nitish Kumar as PM face.