Congress Open to Elevate Other Leaders From Allies For PM Post in 2019: Report

Hours after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said that Rahul Gandhi is not the only leader from the opposition for the Prime Minister's post after the Lok Sabha Election 2019, some sources revealed that the Congress party is open to the idea of elevating other leaders from its allies in the race for the PM post.

New Delhi, July 24: Hours after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said that Rahul Gandhi is not the only leader from the opposition for the Prime Minister’s post after the Lok Sabha Election 2019, some sources revealed that the Congress party is open to the idea of elevating other leaders from its allies in the race for the PM post.

The party sources told NDTV that although they would like Rahul Gandhi to be the next Prime Minister after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, they are open to having leaders from the other parties for consideration “including Dalit powerhouse Mayawati and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee“.

The sources also said that the party and its president want to make sure that the momentum which has been built by joining the opposition doesn’t get broken on the issue of who will be the prime ministerial candidate. “The Congress is not averse to anyone else as the next prime minister except the BJP and the RSS (the BJP’s ideological mentor),” the sources told NDTV.

The report also said that the Congress party also believes that anyone who’s from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar would be able to give a strong competition to the BJP as seats in the two states make 120 of Lok Sabha’s 543 seats. If the grand-old party wins enough seats in these two states, it would be easier for it to sweep the Lok Sabha Election 2019.

Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday said that the Congress president is not the only leader from the opposition in the race for the Prime Minister’s post. “All the opposition parties will sit together to decide the name of the Prime Ministerial candidate. Rahul Gandhi is not the only leader in the race for it,” he said here.

“There are other opposition leaders like (West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee, (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu, (NCP chief) Sharad Pawar and (BSP leader) Mayawati,” he said. Tejashwi Yadav, however, said that his party would support anyone wh0 is named the Prime Ministerial candidate by a united opposition.