Regional parties can't make someone PM without Cong support: Deve Gowda

October 30, 2018 21:56

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda Tuesday said regional parties alone cannot make someone Prime Minister without Congress backing and expressed "complete support" for Rahul Gandhi to be made prime minister after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In these polls, regional parties alone cannot make someone the prime minister without the support of the Congress, whose decision would be final, he said.

"In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, no regional parties in the country can make someone prime minister, leaving aside Rahul Gandhi. But Congress' decision will be the final," Gowda said.

Speaking to reporters in Ballari, he said "I'm saying directly. My complete support is for Rahul Gandhi to be made the prime minister."

Gowda's comments comes over a week after senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said Congress has never stated "officially" that Rahul Gandhi should be the prime minister if an opposition alliance formed the next government.

He had insisted the Congress' focus was on dislodging the BJP government and bringing in a "progressive" alternative.

Chidambaram had told News 18 Tamil TV channel on October 22 in Chennai that the decision on who would be the prime minister in the event of an opposition alliance winning next year's Lok Sabha poll would be taken by its constituents.

Gowda had recently said that the country's secular parties would come together under the Congress leadership to defeat BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, dismissing suggestions that the grand alliance was losing its sheen. -- PTI

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