BJP Ticks off Stalin for Not Echoing ‘Rahul for PM’ at Oppn Rally

DMK’s MK Stalin said he continued to be firm in his stand of “Rahul for PM.”

DMK President MK Stalin (L) with West Bengal Chief Minster Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, and Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy (R) during the TMC mega rally in Kolkata.

(Photo: PTI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday, 20 January, said DMK president MK Stalin could not reiterate his 'Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for Prime Minister pitch' in the Opposition rally at Kolkata and it showed that he has diverged from his avowed stand.

Stalin, however, said he continued to be firm in his stand of "Rahul for PM."

"Stalin said Rahul Gandhi will be the PM candidate in Chennai. He could not say so at Kolkata," BJP Tamil Nadu unit President Tamilisai Soundararajan said, adding that such contradictions outlined the contours of the Opposition front.

Later, speaking to reporters in Madurai, the BJP leader said, "Had Stalin been consistent in his stand, why didn’t he say that he proposed Rahul Gandhi for the post of Prime Minister at the mega Kolkata rally attended by over 20 parties."

Criticising Stalin for diverging from his previous stand of supporting Rahul for the post of prime minister, she said such deviation showed “his hesitancy and obstacles.”

Unlike the undercurrent of incohesion in the Opposition ranks, her party-led front was clear that "to save the nation, Narendra Modi should return as the Prime Minister."

The DMK chief said he proposed Rahul Gandhi’s name at his party held event in Chennai whereas the Kolkata rally saw the convergence of several Opposition parties who had decided to pick the PM nominee post Lok Sabha election in keeping with the unique political scenarios in their respective states.

"It was a DMK-held event where we had every right and we proposed Rahul Gandhi since people of Tamil Nadu expected and what is wrong in it," asked Stalin, while addressing a function.

Affirming that Rahul Gandhi would be the next Prime Minister, Stalin said “wait and see if it happens or not,” and added that no leader at the Opposition rally had questioned him for backing the Congress chief for the top post.

Viduthalai Chiruthailgal Katchi chief Thol Thirumavalavan said the Kolkata rally was only an initiative aimed at bringing together "secular parties against the BJP and it was not an event to declare the prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition."