Man of fundamentalist background can't be prime minister : Mukul Sangma

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will never become the prime minister of India because of his fundamentalist background, but the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will make it, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said here Wednesday.

"I don't see Modi becoming a prime minister, and any person having fundamentalist background in this country cannot aspire and become prime minister," Sangma told IANS.

Describing his Gujarat counterpart Modi as "ambitious" and "impatient", the senior Congress leader from Meghalaya, however, exuded confidence that Rahul Gandhi will take over as the next prime minister. "I have nothing against Modi. He is ambitious, hard working but impatient. In context of India, a man with this fundamentalist background will not be the prime minister of India," Sangma told IANS.

Asked for comment on development of Gujarat under Modi, Sangma said, "I would be happy if you try with Chief Minister of Manipur (Okram Ibobi Singh) and send him (Okram Singh) in his place and send Modi to Manipur."

He said the development in some of the states in the country was mainly because of the central-sponsored schemes launched by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. "This is the third term for him and any chief minister having the privilege of being in third term in last decades has been able to demonstrate some success stories because of the good things happening in the country," Sangma said. "Whether it is Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh or Bihar, whereever there is stability, it (progress) has happened."