Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Ram Madhav claimed on Thursday that some leaders who are forming an alliance to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 General Elections may later join him.
“The Mahagathbandhan [grand alliance] is a non-starter at the moment,” he said at the launch of journalist Priya Sahgal’s book The Contenders, The Indian Express reported. “Now it’s like marriage today but divorcing tomorrow…. nothing wrong in parties coming together but it should not be on the single point agenda of hatred towards Modi.”
“Those who are advocating Mahagathbandhan to defeat Modi, some of them could join Modi after the elections,” he added.
Other attendees at the event in New Delhi were Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, and Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot.
Abdullah said Madhav’s comments suggested that the BJP was unsure of achieving a clear majority in the elections, and that Modi may have to look for allies after the polls. Pilot said that despite being the ruling party at the Centre, the BJP has been losing its allies.
Yadav claimed that he was not interested in the prime minister’s post. “I’m happy to be in Uttar Pradesh, I don’t ever want to be prime minister,” he said, according to The Hindu. But he added: “Whoever wants to be prime minister has to contest from Uttar Pradesh.”
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