Congress's Offer To Pass Over PM Seat Sparks 'Me Too' Chorus

Congress hinted Rahul Gandhi was open to pass over the Prime Minister's post in 2019

A day after the Congress hinted that Rahul Gandhi was open to pass over the Prime Minister's post in next year's general election if need be, there was a scramble among leaders of opposition parties to project their respective party leader as an acceptable face.

Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool Congress was among the first to make the move for his leader, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Regional parties, he said, would play a crucial rule at the centre in the general elections and Mamata Banerjee is "one of the most senior leader in this matrix".

The Trinamool's Rajya Sabha member insisted Ms Banerjee is "accepted" not only by the people of West Bengal but also the entire country and her name "emerging as one of the front runners is nothing new".

Mamata Banerjee, 63, has already indicated that she would like to play a pole position in the united opposition front that she has been pushing for and has already announced a mega rally in Kolkata in January as a show of strength. Not just because of the number of people from Bengal who will attend this meeting but also because of the political leaders from across the country who are expected to be on the stage, by her side.

Mayawati, on the other hand, also has never ruled herself out. The 62-year-old Dalit powerhouse was all smiles earlier this year when on the sidelines of an election meeting in Karnataka, her party's ally Janata Dal Secular leader Danish Ali, told NDTV that she was going to be the nucleus  for the 2019 general election.

Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien insisted Mamata Banerjee is "accepted" not only by the people of West Bengal but also the entire country

Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, which had so far, focused on Uttar Pradesh alone, has been keen to tie-up with other parties in other states where the BSP has some following.

The Congress is already wooing her party for an alliance in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh but she wants the Congress to throw in Rajasthan - where her party's base is rather limited - as well. She is also expected to be part of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance in Maharashtra and on Wednesday evening met NCP chief Sharad Pawar who later tweeted a photograph.

"Had a good meeting," said Mr Pawar seen as the third aspirant for the prime ministerial berth.

Praful Patel, a former union minister and a confidant of Mr Pawar, had last year declared that the Maratha strongman's dream of becoming the prime minister could be fulfilled in the 2019 elections.

Today, the NCP's Majeed Memon told NDTV that the opposition's prime ministerial face would emerge only after the elections. "Who it would be, is a hypothetical question. But if you were to ask me, keeping aside the question about the PM post", the lawmaker said, "I think there is no one (in the opposition ranks) who has the same stature of Mr Pawar).

(With inputs from PTI)