Indian Union leaders meet at Chief Minister Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence to discuss possibility of forming government
Leaders of the opposition BJP have begun key talks on the possibility of forming a government, the alliance’s future strategy and whether to reach out to former allies Nitish Kumar and N. Chandrababu Naidu. The leaders met at the New Delhi residence of Indian National Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge a day after the results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced.
The meeting was also attended by top Indian National Congress leaders including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Indian National Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Opposition leaders who attended the meeting included Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin and DMK’s TR Bahl, Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren and JMM’s Kalpana Soren, NCP-SP’s Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule, Akhilesh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Sanjay Raut and Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-UBT), Omar Abdullah (JKNC), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), D Raja (CPI), Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha (AAP) and NK Premchandran (RSP).
The BJP fell short of a majority on its own, but as things stand, it has the potential to form a government with the support of its allies. With the support of Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which won 16 seats in Andhra Pradesh and 12 in Bihar, and other allies, the NDA has crossed the halfway mark. PTI
