Ahead of the INDIA bloc's meeting in Mumbai later this month, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Friday said he would want Rahul Gandhi to be its prime ministerial face.

He said the BJP is rattled by the popularity of Rahul Gandhi after his Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra and that is why it got him disqualified from Lok Sabha and even took away his official residence.

"As a Congress man, I feel Rahul Gandhi should be the prime ministerial face," Baghel told PTI in an interview. He was asked whether he would want Gandhi to be the face of the INDIA alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"The BJP is very scared of Rahul Gandhi, that is why he was disqualified from Lok Sabha...made to vacate his bungalow," he said, referring to the Wayanad MP's disqualification from Parliament following his conviction in a defamation case. His Lok Sabha membership was later restored after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction.

The chief minister said the BJP is perturbed by Gandhi's popularity, especially after the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Baghel said the main aim of the INDIA bloc is to oust the "dictatorial people from power" and asserted that any differences among its parties will be resolved through talks.

More than two dozen opposition parties have formed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

On what role he sees for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Baghel said, "We would like to see Priyanka Gandhi in Parliament. She is our star campaigner."

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