Opposition unity in peril after Stalin’s pitch for Rahul Gandhi as PM in 2019

DMK president MK Stalin’s statement backing Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the Prime Minister’s job in 2019 general elections has created a rift between the Opposition parties planning to stitch anti-BJP grand alliance. After Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinmool Congress (TMC), the Communist Party of India (CPI) has also expressed its reservations on naming the prime ministerial candidate of the proposed anti-BJP front before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

“If somebody proposes, we can’t do anything. We are not opposed to it. We think...who should be prime minister...that should be discussed in post-election period instead of now,” CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy was quoted as saying by PTI.

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Early on Sunday, DMK president MK Stalin had proposed Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s name as the Opposition’s prime ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha elections slated to be held next year. The demands for Rahul Gandhi as the Opposition’s PM face for 2019 general elections caught the pace especially after the Congress defeated the BJP in December 7 Assembly elections in three Hindi heartland states – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

Addressing a rally in Chennai to unveil the statue of his father Karunanidhi, Stalin said the Gandhi scion has the ability to defeat the “fascist” Narendra Modi government and made a strong pitch that he should be the prime minister of the proposed anti-BJP front.

"We will install a new Prime Minister in Delhi. We will build a new India. I have proposed Thiru Rahul Gandhi's name as PM and appeal to respected leaders of all the parties to strengthen his hands and save the nation from the fascist Modi government," Stalin had said.

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However, the CPI leader said that Stalin proposed Gandhi’s name as he is the leader of the biggest Opposition party but feared the too many aspirants for the post would create problems for the unity of the anti-BJP parties.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu has been reaching out to anti-BJP parties to fight the 2019 general elections together to oust the Narendra Modi-led BJP from the power.