Chennai: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin did not pitch Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate in West Bengal during the United Opposition rally, led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee. 

In Tamil Nadu, Stalin was seen vehemently pushing for Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister. But when he was sharing stage with the leaders of other 23 political parties, he did not repeat his call of Rahul Gandhi as the PM. Instead, he only spoke about dethroning Narendra Modi from the post of PM and defeating BJP-led NDA.

When asked, Stalin replied to the media that he did not push for Rahul Gandhi at the rally in West Bengal attended by 23 parties. He said, "Situation is very different in West Bengal."

"People of Tamil Nadu want Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister. I had said this in Chennai, what is wrong in it? It is the aspiration of Tamil Nadu people. But in West Bengal, they have to decided to finalise their choice of Prime Minister after the election. It is their wish," said Stalin, reported ANI. 

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee is said to have an opinion that it is premature to pitch Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate. 

Thus, Stalin refrained from making any comment regarding PM candidate and spoke about the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a second freedom struggle against radical Hinduism. 

"Our call is to defeat Modi and save the country," he said, without uttering a word about his choice of PM candidate.