Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate? Mamata Banerjee remains non-committal

Three days after DMK President MK Stalin proposed the name of Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the ‘mahagathbandhan’ in the run upto the 2019 general elections, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee remained non-committal on Rahul Gandhi’s name.

She said that it was not the right time to talk about the prime ministerial candidate.

“This is not the right time to decide who will be the Prime Minister. Let us first all work together for a better day. Prime Ministerial candidate will be decided after the elections,” said Banerjee while leaving the state secretariat – Nabanna on Wednesday.

After the Telegu Desam Party (TDP), CPI(M) and many others did not endorse Stalin’s views, however TMC for the first time in the last couple of days broke its silence on the selection of the prime ministerial candidate. Party supremo Mamata Banerjee has also remained non-committal on all questions raised on the face of the mahagathbandhan is concerned.

Commenting on the seat sharing of Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh, she said, “This is very good. All leaders have come together. So what Congress is not a part of the seat sharing? It is a local compulsion. There are places where Congress will have to fight alone.

However, she added one of the key issues that will be focused in the run up to the general elections would be farmers, development of youth and several others. “Our top priority will be the farmers and then we will focus on the youth. Most importantly, secularism will also be our top priority ahead of the Lok sabha elections scheduled to be held next year.