Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, on Saturday 26 April, said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu as well as BSP chief Mayawati would be the top contenders for the prime minister post if the NDA is not able to secure a clear majority.
Talking to The Times of India, the NCP chief said that Mamata, Naidu and Mayawati are the better options for the prime minister post.
Pawar said that Modi was the CM of Gujarat before taking over as the prime minister, and in his opinion, if the NDA is unable to secure majority, Banerjee, Naidu and Mayawati are better options for the PM post.
In conversation with the daily, Pawar also denied earlier reports of him saying that the three leaders were better options than Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. He told TOI that Rahul Gandhi had himself made it clear that he was not in the race to be the prime minister. In an interview with The Indian Express as well, Pawar said, "when he himself says he is not in the race, I cannot understand why I am being asked this question."
In his TOI interview, Pawar said that BJP's tally will go down by at least 100 seats. Distancing himself from the PM post, he said that the NCP is contesting only 22 seats –even if it wins all of them, it’s nowhere close to the figure required to form government.
“It would be irrational to even think about being PM.”Sharad Pawar, NCP Chief, as quoted by Times of India
According to the TOI report, a senior Congress leader said that in the event of the NDA failing to secure majority, Pawar would play a crucial role in bringing together an alliance.
In his interview with Express, Pawar himself said that same thing. When asked what his role will be, if a post-poll alliance is to be formed, he told the daily that his role will be to bring everyone together.
(With inputs from The Times of India and The Indian Express.)
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