On being asked who will be INDIA bloc's PM candidate, Mallikarjun Kharge has this witty reply

"If we form the government, all the leaders will decide who will be their PM," he said during a press conference in Shimla.

Kharge also reminded that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was at the helm of the government for 10 years from 2004 to 2014 without proposing a PM candidate before the elections.

"In 2004, Congress leaders wanted Sonia Gandhi to be the Prime Minister but she refused. We didn't have the majority, we had 140 seats. We returned to power in 2009 with 209 seats. We formed the UPA alliance and ran the government for 10 years," he said.

"Sometimes even wise people forget history," the Congress chief said, taking a jibe at the ruling BJP who had been targeting the INDIA bloc for failing to come up with a Prime Ministerial candidate.

Targeting the BJP, Kharge said that the party lied to the country "when it talked about 2 crore jobs in 2014, when it talked about reducing inflation. Nothing happened".

"The Prime Minister made big promises in 2014 and 2019 but did not look back after that. He did not help Himachal Pradesh when it was struck by a natural disaster. The BJP is working to topple governments in the country and has tried to destabilise the Congress government of Himachal," he alleged.