New Delhi: In a veiled attack on Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee proposed the name of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the Opposition bloc, BJP leader Manoj Tiwari said Kharge is just a “dummy” and if Congress is voted to power, "mummy" (Sonia Gandhi) will take up the reins of the government.
After the fourth meeting of Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc, Mamata Banerjee said she has proposed Kharge’s name as their PM candidate and the proposal was also backed by her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Manoj Tiwari said, “Kharge hain ‘Dummy’, Sarkar chalayengi ‘Mummy’. Nitish ji ka ho gaya kaam. Ab pata nahi kish aal mein kaha pade honge. Sabse bada jhatka toh Nitish ji ko laga hain. Nitish ji ko alliance ne kahi ka nahi chora. Meri sahanubhuti hain unse ([If voted to power] Kharge will only be the dummy [PM]. The reins of the government will be taken over by mummy. Nitish Kumar’s role is over and I just wonder how he might have reacted to this proposal. He must have got the biggest shock from the INDI alliance. My sympathies are with Nitish Kumar).”
It is to be noted that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was the one who took the initiative to cobble up the Opposition alliance to take on BJP in the Lok Sabha elections next year.
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Further speaking on the mass suspension of Opposition MPs during the ongoing Winter Session, Tiwari said, “If 50-60 members snatch away the rights of 543 in Lok Sabha, then they deserve to be suspended. The base of the Opposition bloc is corruption. Just wait and watch.”