'Above Mamata, Pawar, Nitish?' BJP mocks Congress projecting Rahul Gandhi as I.N.D.I.A PM face

The mega Opposition grouping Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or I.N.D.I.A is still taking shape, yet the lure of the Prime Minister's chair seems to dictate the politics of some allies. On Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party questioned the Congress party's eagerness to project Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial face ahead of the I.N.D.I.A meeting in Mumbai.

BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla took to micro-blogging platform X (formerly Twitter) to say, "In last few days, Congress has very smartly, before the Mumbai meeting positioned Rahul Gandhi as the main face of the alliance. Both Baghel and Gehlot, with the assent of the 1st family, have stated this." 

Sharing a media report that cited Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as saying that Rahul Gandhi should be I.N.D.I.A's PM face, he said: "Where does that leave other aspirants like Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar, Mamata, Nitish, Akhilesh, etc? AAP has on record said don’t project Rahul again yet Congress has done unilaterally. Never imagined a day where AAP, TMC would be canvassing for Rahul Gandhi as PM face... galat hua yeh toh."

"Even though there is no vacancy in 2024 the mere projection of Rahul over others pretty much settles the fact that Congress considers Rahul to be above Mamata, Sharad Pawar, Nitish & Arvind Kejriwal - all of whom have served or are serving as CMs !!," he added.

A couple of weeks ago, multiple reports said that the Trinamool Congress social media team had been asked to boost party supremo Mamata Banerjee as the Prime Ministerial face of the alliance.

On record, the Opposition alliance members have time and again said that the prime ministerial face will be discussed after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, rumblings from within the alliance point towards a discord.

With the Congress leaders only projecting Rahul Gandhi, the meeting of the opposition alliance INDIA, which is scheduled to be held in Mumbai from August 31 to September 1, is expected to generate some fireworks. 

Officially, the meeting in Mumbai has been convened to plot the Opposition strategy ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, the absence of a firm common ground seems to be the bigger challenge for the Opposition allies to address.