Coming to the defence of Rahul Gandhi for voicing his Prime Ministerial ambitions, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi “not to ridicule” the Congress president for his statement that he was prepared to occupy the country’s top post if his party emerged as the single largest party in the 2019 lok Sabha polls.
Hitting out at Modi for dubbing Rahul’s statement as the one that smacked of “sky-high arrogance”, Raut said, “Rahul Gandhi has every right to voice his prime ministerial ambitions. No one should ridicule him. Even Narendra Modi came to occupy the country’s top post after voicing his ambitions. In the normal course, senior BJP leader l K Advani should have become the Prime Minister”.
Taking a strong exception Modi ridiculing Rahul for his readiness to take up the Prime Ministerial mantle, Raut said, “There is no need for Modi to get unsettled by Rahul’s statement. The only way for Modi to block the Prime Ministerial route is to defeat the Congress in the 2019 lok Sabha polls”.
“let’s face it. The Congress continues to be a biggest party across the country. In 2014, the Congress was defeated in some peculiar circumstances. .. Much will depend on what stand that various UPA constituents will take on Rahul’s candidature for the Prime Minister’s post. We look at Sharad Pawar as an ideal candidate for the Prime Minster's post. Modi, Jaitley and Advani have also the capability to become a Prime Minister. In addition, all of them have the ability to prove their mettle if and when they occupy the country’s top post,” the Sena spokesperson said.
Alluding to BJP national president Amit Shah’s statement that his party would contest the 2019 lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Shiv Sena, Raut said: “The BJP appears to be in a state of confusion. I do not want to elaborate much on that. Our president Uddhav Thackeray has already made it clear that the Sena would contest the forthcoming polls on its own strength. No one can pressure the Sena into changing its decision”.
Maintaining that the Sena planned to contest the lok Sabha by-polls to Palghar
and Gondia-Bhandara seats on its own strength, Raut said: “The Sena wants to contest both the Palghar and Gondia-Bhandara seats.