Competing prime ministerial ambitions may jettison INDIA bloc in UP
Lucknow, Nov 26: As the Lok Sabha elections are approaching, the INDIA bloc, seems to be weakening due to internal disputes and conflicts.
In recent Assembly elections, INDIA allies were seen contesting against each other on several seats. Also, there is competition among the allies to make their leaders the candidate for the Prime Minister post. This clearly shows the differences arising between the INDIA allies.
INDIA ally JD(U) is pushing for Nitish Kumar's name for the post of Prime Minister while the SP is suggesting Akhilesh Yadav's name for the post.
On the other hand, the Congress is adamant about Rahul Gandhi's name as the prime ministerial candidate.
Recently, at a programme organised in Uttar Pradesh's Saifai on the birth anniversary of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the way senior leaders of the party put forth the issue of making Akhilesh Yadav the Prime Minister, it is certain that the challenges will mount for the INDIA alliance in the coming times.
Akhilesh Yadav's supporters pitted him against former Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
SP National Vice President Kiranmoy Nanda said, "We would have been very happy if Netaji (Mulayam Yadav) had become the Prime Minister. However, we still have a chance, the Lok Sabha elections of 2024 are very near... we will send Akhilesh Yadav from Uttar Pradesh in 2024 and make him the Prime Minister of the country."
SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said that if SP wins 40 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the party will be in a position to make Akhilesh Yadav the Prime Minister.
Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi says that the INDIA bloc has been formed under the leadership of Congress and all decisions will be made in the alliance meeting.
"All these decisions like who will become the Prime Minister or who will contest how many seats will not be decided by the statement of any individual party leader. We are not concerned with the statements of any party leader," Awasthi said.
Taking a dig at the INDIA bloc, Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Sameer Singh said all the parties of the bloc have their own prime ministerial candidate.
"These parties which cannot win elections in their state, want their leader to become the Prime Minister. The public does not pay attention to such things. Because everyone knows that the country is safe in the hands of Narendra Modi and is progressing rapidly," he added.
Senior political analyst Virendra Singh Rawat says that the way senior SP leaders during the Saifai programme have pitched for Akhilesh Yadav as the prime ministerial candidate poses a big challenge for the INDIA bloc because similar demands have been raised by the JD(U), Congress, AAP and Shiv Sena earlier as well.
The opposition will have to bring a face before Prime Minister Modi which is universally acceptable. In such a situation, only time will tell how effective these faces announced by their respective parties will be. At present, maintaining unity seems to be a very big challenge for the INDIA bloc, he added.
Another senior political analyst Ratanmani Lal says that SP leaders still feel that Mulayam Singh was not able to become the Prime Minister because of the Congress. "They must have discussed that if this trend continues then even Akhilesh Yadav will not get a chance. Keeping this in view, the demand for making the SP chief the prime ministerial candidate gains momentum from time to time."
"SP leaders feel that if their party gets one or two seats in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, then they can stake their claim among the non-Congress parties. Besides the SP, parties such as JD(U), Congress, AAP and others will also stake claim to the prime ministerial post. This will cause loss to the alliance," he added.