Kharge named INDIA bloc chief; Nitish declines convenor post

IN A MEETING not attended by Trinamool Congress's Mamata Banerjee, SP's Akhilesh Yadav and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Uddhav Thackeray, leaders of major INDIA bloc parties Saturday agreed to appoint Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as chairperson of the alliance and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar as the convenor pending consultations with the three senior leaders who stayed away citing preoccupation.

- LALMANI MANOJ C G

Interestingly, it was Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the CPM Trinamool's bitter rival in West Bengal who proposed the names of Kharge and Kumar for leadership roles in the alliance at the virtual meeting.

Yechury was backed by his CPI counterpart D Raja and others also agreed with some suggesting that Banerjee, Thackeray and Yadav should be consulted.