Convener appointment likely on table as INDIA bloc meets today; TMC to skip

As seat-sharing talks between the Congress and other parties of the INDIA bloc gather pace, the heads of 14 major parties of the alliance will hold a virtual meeting on Saturday to decide on appointing a convener for the coalition. The Janata Dal (United) has been mounting pressure on the grouping to appoint Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the convener.

However, days after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) refused to join seat-sharing talks with the Congress’s national alliance committee, the party said it would not attend the meeting. Earlier this week, the TMC signalled it was willing to concede two or at best three seats to the Congress, an offer which the state Congress has already rejected.

Sources in the TMC said its chairperson Mamata Banerjee would not attend the meeting as she had pre-scheduled programmes. “We were informed at around 5 pm about the meeting at 11.30 am. It is for heads of parties. Mamata di has some pre-scheduled programmes. We told the Congress that she can attend the meeting if it is held next week, she would not be able to attend the meeting at such short notice,” a TMC leader said, adding that the Congress had not disclosed the agenda of the meeting.

“We will continue to be patient and gracious because the TMC is committed to the INDIA alliance to defeat the fascist BJP who cannot provide jobs to the youth,” said a senior party leader.

The JD(U), sources said, was of the view that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge should be appointed the president or chairperson of the alliance and Kumar the convener — a North-South combination that it feels will send a positive signal to the people in the absence of a prime ministerial face for the bloc.

The Congress is said to be not keen on heading the