JD-U MP wants Nitish as INDIA convenor, Raut says...

Janata Dal-United leader Ram Nath Thakur Wednesday said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should be made the convenor of the INDIA bloc.

The JD-U Rajya Sabha MP said Nitish Kumar has built his image such that makes him the best fit for being the convenor of the opposition grouping.

"The image that Nitish Kumar has made for himself in Bihar, if he becomes the leader of INDIA, it will be good," Thakur told PTI.

Asked to comment on Thakur's remark, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut said no such demand has been made in any meeting of the coalition.

"If such a demand is made in the meeting of the INDIA bloc we will discuss it. Nitish Kumar ji is a big leader, INDIA bloc has his guidance," he said.

To a question about Uddhav Thackrey, he said, "Uddhav ji is a face which is acceptable to the country. I will not say for this post or that post, but he is staunch Hinduwadi and yet he is liberal. He takes everyone together."

K Suresh of the Congress said that he cannot comment on behalf of the INDIA coalition, but attacked the Communist Party of India-Marxist in Kerala over their remarks on his party's performance in the recently concluded assembly polls.

"We are fighting the BJP as well as the CPI-M in Kerala. CPI-M is not strong anywhere in India except Kerala. Pinnarayi Vijayan has to think about what moral right he has to comment on the Congress party. We were defeated in three states but our vote share is (intact) there," he said.

About the unavailability of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin for the INDIA bloc meeting on Wednesday, Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena-UBT said, "There's a flood in Chennai, so to expect Stalin to leave people of Tamil Nadu and come for the meeting is not right."