India
Apart from DMK, parties including the SP, TMC, TDP, CPI and CPM, RJD and others have not taken DMK leader Stalin's proposal of Rahul for PM comment positively. The alliance is less likely to announce a candidate for premiership ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections
Chennai: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin has been slammed for his comment that Rahul Gandhi should be projected as the prime minister for 2019 elections, by the Mahagatbandhan parties as well as his own DMK party members.
Stalin had on December 16 after unveiling the statue of late DMK chief M Karunanidhi said that he proposes to install a new Prime Minister in Delhi and supports the candidature of Rahul Gandhi.
He asserted his statement by sending a letter mentioning the same to the party cadre in Tamil Nadu.
However, there are reports that the DMK leaders have not received the Stalin's proposal positively. In fact, reports claim that the DMK leaders have expressed surprise over the same. Indian Express reported that a senior DMK leader said, "Late Karunanidhi (previous chief of DMK) would not have made such a hurried statement.”
Apart from DMK, opposition leaders (in the Centre) have rejected the idea and most of them said that the Prime Ministerial candidate of the coalition will only be announced after the 2019 elections.
This was met with severe criticism from the BJP and the NDA leaders also, who asked the coalition to at least place a face against Prime Minister Modi, before dreaming of combating and defeating it.
Opposition leaders like Mamata Banerjee, chief of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) termed Stalin's statement as premature. The TMC sources said that the decision on opposition's PM candidate will only be revealed after the 2019 election results are out.
Samajwadi Party president, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that everyone in the opposition do not share the DMK president MK Stalin's views on projecting Rahul Gandhi as the next prime minister of India.
Adding to the list, the CPI leader D Raja had also indicated that the party is not ready for a consensus as of now, on who will be their PM candidate for the general elections.
These leaders were joined by Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Chandrababu Naidu, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and CPM leaders in rejecting the ideas.
In fact, the Congress itself has avoided discussing the issue of Prime Minister candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
There is a strong opposition to Rahul Gandhi being proposed as a candidate for Prime Minister for the 2019 elections. It looks like there are less chances of Mahagatbandhan coming to a consensus on a candidate. This is likely to be advantageous to the BJP and Prime Minister Modi is already seen as the strong face of India.
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