BJP general secretary Ram Madhav
Dismissing the prospects of a Grand Alliance against the BJP ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said some of those who are trying to come together to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi could join him after the polls.
“The Mahagathbandhan is a non-starter at the moment. 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..,” Madhav said during a discussion at the launch of journalist Priya Sahgal’s book The Contenders.
“Those who are advocating Mahagathbandhan to defeat Modi, some of them could join Modi after the election,” he said.
Madhav’s comments prompted National Conference leader Omar Abdullah to say that the BJP leader’s statement suggested that even BJP was not sure of a clear majority in the Lok Sabha polls. He said Madhav’s remark indicated that Modi would have to look for allies after the election.
But Madhav countered it by saying BJP still has allies despite having a majority on its own. Congress’s Sachin Pilot then said that despite being the ruling party, the BJP is losing its allies.
Amid speculation over the prospect of non-BJP parties coming together ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said he has no Prime Ministerial ambitions. “I don’t dream so big, I will remain in Uttar Pradesh… I certainly do not have prime ministerial ambition… I don’t want to be the Prime Minister ever,” Akhilesh said.
RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary was also part of the discussion.