A day after former Union Minister and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said his party has no "issue" with anyone bagging the prime minister's post, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha sought to offer a clarification on Friday, 17 May, saying:
“No, this is not true that Congress will not claim or Congress is not interested in prime minister’s post. Of course, we are the biggest and oldest political party. If we have to run the government for five years, biggest political party should be given a chance.”Ghulam Nabi Azad to ANI
On Thursday, speaking to news agency ANI, Azad had said the party's goal was to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA from forming the government.
He had said:
“We have already made our stand clear. If a consensus is made in the favour of Congress, then the party will take the leadership, but our aim has always been that NDA government should not come. We will go with the unanimous decision. We are not going to make an issue that we (Congress) will not let anyone else become the prime minister if it is not offered to us (Congress).”Ghulam Nabi Azad to ANI
The Congress leader’s statement had come amid UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi writing to the Opposition leaders, calling them for a meet on 23 May, when the Lok Sabha election results would be declared.
On 15 May, Union Minister Rajnath Singh had “dared the Opposition” to announce their prime ministerial candidate.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)