Published 13:24 IST, January 15th 2019
Here's what the Samajwadi Party said after its ally BSP declared Mayawati as "India's to-be Prime Minister"
As congratulatory posters declaring BSP chief Mayawati as 'India's to-be Prime Minister' surfaces on the occasion of her 63rd birthday, Samajwadi Party has responded to the posters reiterating that the next Prime Minister will come from Uttar Pradesh.
As congratulatory posters declaring BSP chief Mayawati as 'India's to-be Prime Minister' surfaces on the occasion of her 63rd birthday, Samajwadi Party has responded to the posters reiterating that the next Prime Minister will come from Uttar Pradesh.
On being asked if BSP supremo is the face of the Prime Minister from the newly-formed BSP-SP gathbandhan from Uttar Pradesh, SP national spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari gave an unsettling response saying India being a democratic country, everyone has an opportunity to be the PM.
"Anyone can get the opportunity to be where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently, since it's a democratic country. This is the power of our Constitution. We said this earlier also this election is going to bring change and the nation will have a new Prime Minister. The mandate of 2019 will choose the Prime Minister, and the nation will have a new PM. We would welcome a PM who comes from Uttar Pradesh," said the SP leader while speaking to Republic TV in the matter.
Earlier on Tuesday, BSP National spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria congratulated Mayawati by putting posters saying, "Well wishes for India' would be Prime Minister Mayawati on her birthday on January 15" on social media.
On Saturday, when Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav was asked about whether Mayawati would be the PM-face of the newly-formed Gathbandhan. His response was positive but cryptically so:
"You know who is my choice. Uttar Pradesh has given prime ministers in the past and trend will be repeated again".
Addressing a joint-press briefing recently, the SP and the BSP declared that they have agreed on a 50-50 seat-sharing deal under which each party will contest 38 seats. Furthermore, both parties will leave two seats for the smaller parties out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The parties, however, decided not to contest in Amethi and Rae Bareli, which are represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi respectively, leaving the Congress out of the alliance.
Updated 13:53 IST, January 15th 2019