Pr an ab maybe consensus PM choice in 2019: Sena
‘RIGHT’ PICK Says expresident could be PM candidate if BJP fails to get majority in LS polls
MUMBAI: Former president Pranab Mukherjee could be the consensus candidate for the Prime Minister’s post if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fails to garner a majority in the 2019 general elections, the Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana said in an editorial on Saturday, two days after BJP president Amit Shah met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to smoothen the relationship between the two longtime allies.
The editorial also hit out at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of BJP, for having never invited former Sena chief, the late Bal Thackeray to speak at its HQ, and trying to appease Muslims by holding iftar parties.
The comments in the editorial of the party’s mouthpiece Saamana come two days after Mukherjee attended an event of RSS in Nagpur on Thursday. The editorial wondered why the RSS would chose to invite the veteran Congress leader, who holds Nehruvian ideologies close to his heart. After his term as President, Mukinvite herjee has sought to maintain a distance from the Congress, although his daughter is a member of the party.
The RSS think-tank strategically uses such visits for future politics; what is on its mind with this particular event will be revealed only during 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the editorial stated.
“But the political corridor in Delhi is abuzz with the possibility of Mukherjee being a consensus candidate for the PM’s post after elections. If the BJP fails to garner majority in the Lok Sabha, Mukherjee could be a consensus candidate,” it said.
Reacting to the reports, a source close to Mukherjee said: “These are far-fetched thoughts. He is not at all thinking of returning to active politics.”
The editorial noted that the RSS, which has a tradition of inviting eminent personalities on its forum, may have chosen not to Bal Thackeray as it could not have stood by his “intense Hindutva”. “Balasaheb’s agenda of Hindutva has never been taciturn. Like Veer Savarkar, he too believed in expansive Hinduism. This would be the reason why RSS preferred to maintain a distance from him,” the editorial said.
An RSS functionary declined to comment on the specific reference of not having invited Thackeray. The outfit invites people who are not familiar with its ideology and gives them a chance to familiarise themselves with it, the functionary said on the condition of anonymity.
The strong remarks point toward deteriorating ties between the Sena and the BJP despite a meeting between its chiefs Uddhav Thackeray and Amit Shah earlier this week.
The BJP and the Shiv Sena have always been fractious allies but in recent months, the relations have deteriorated further. The Shiv Sena has said it will go it alone in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. People familiar with the proceedings at the meeting between Shah and Thackeray said the two parties would meet again.