INDIA bloc leadership is open question, indicates Shiv Sena (UBT)

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut (Courtesy: ANI file photo)

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday indicated that his party was open to discuss if someone outside the Congress should lead the Opposition's INDIA bloc.

All constituents of the alliance are willing to have a discussion on the issue, he told reporters. Raut was reacting to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's comment that West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee should be allowed to lead the INDIA bloc.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is at present the chairman of the Opposition grouping, formed before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Talking to reporters in Delhi, Raut, a Rajya Sabha member, said his party's ties with the Congress leadership including Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were excellent.

Congress is a national party and has the highest number of MPs among the INDIA allies, he noted.

"Still, if the INDIA bloc is to be strengthened again, everyone wishes to discuss (issues related to) leadership, who can give time to the alliance ... (whether it could be) Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray, Lalu Prasad, Sharad Pawar or Akhilesh Yadav," Raut said.

Even BJD chief Naveen Patnaik, whose party is not a part of the bloc, can join INDIA, he said.

"We are talking to each other on this issue," said the Sena (UBT) leader.

Earlier this week, Banerjee had expressed her intent to take charge of the anti-BJP coalition.

Notably, the ties between the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray and Congress have come under strain in Maharashtra after the Opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance fared poorly in the assembly elections.