NEW DELHI: As the Indian parliament witnessed the suspension of dozens more opposition MPs on Tuesday, the INDIA alliance saw the move as an opportunity to galvanise themselves into a fighting force.

Two opposition critics from the Congress party, meeting at the alliance`s discussions on Tuesday, proposed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as a good prime ministerial choice.

Springing a surprise at the INDIA bloc meeting, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee suggested that Mr Kharge could be projected as the alliance`s prime ministerial candidate.

Ms Banerjee was backed by AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who she had met on Monday.

With most of their MPs suspended, the opposition parties have decided to hold a nationwide protest against the `undemocratic` action on Dec 22, the last day of the winter session.

A day after 78 opposition MPs weresuspended from parliament in the highest single-day suspensions so far, another 49 Lok Sabha members were suspended for the rest of the session on Tuesday, taking their total number to 141 95 from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha since last Thursday.

At a press conference, responding to questions on the alliance`s PM candidate, Mr Kharge said the opposition parties first need to focus on winning the polls. The decision on who becomes the PM can be taken later, he said.

`If we do not have MPs, what is the objective of talking about the PM. So, we will contest collectively to win majority.

According to sources, the meeting, attended by heads of parties, also saw several leaders blaming the Congress for letting the alliance lose the momentum it had gained earlier.

Citing the recent Assembly elections, several leaders, including Samajwadi Party`s Ram Gopal Yadav, JD(U)`s Lallan Singh and RJD leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, reportedly argued that the Congress should not have put the alliance on the back burner.