After JD(U) MLA Gopal Mandal's 'Kharge-Pharge' remark, Union Minister Nityanand Rai on Saturday stated that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's dream of being Prime Minister is never going to be true, news agency ANI reported. Speaking with media, Rai stated: "This is their issue but it is a fact that in the INDIA Alliance, the way Congress has behaved with Nitish Kumar is being realised by him now. He has gone there with the greed of being the PM but it is never going to be fulfilled. Lalu Yadav showed him dreams and took him with the Congress. Now the result is clear."
On Friday, JD(U) MLA Gopal Mandal remarked that the people do not recognise Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should be the INDIA bloc's choice for Prime Minister. “Public does not who ‘Kharge Pharge’ is. Even I don’t know he was the president of Congress. Nobody knows him. Masses don’t know him. The public knows Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar should become Prime Minister. He is popular all over India,” he had stated.
Earlier, at the fourth meeting of the INDIA alliance, held in the national capital, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's name was put forward as the INDIA bloc's prime ministerial candidate by Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal in the recently held meeting in the national, where all 28 partners converged to chalk out plans for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has rejected proposals that he be the INDIA bloc's prime ministerial choice in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, stating that the issue will be settled later and that their goal is to obtain a majority.