Hours after Jammu Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said there was a chance for DMK top leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to become the Prime Minister if Opposition parties came together and won the general election next year, MK Stalin surprised everyone by backing the Grand Old Party.
On his arrival here to take part in the 70th birthday celebrations of Stalin, Abdullah, when asked on prospective Prime Ministerial candidates, said a decision could be made on the best man to lead and unite the nation at appropriate time after a win by a united Opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Asked on chances of Stalin becoming the Prime Minister, he told reporters: “Why not? Why can’t he become the Prime Minister?”
To a question on Opposition unity, he said Stalin and DMK have done very well. When the nation’s diversity is protected, then unity is guarded, he said.
Tamil Nadu’s ruling party has done well on nurturing Opposition and national unity, Abdullah added. Addressing a mega public meeting here organised by the DMK to celebrate the party chief’s birthday, he said: “Stalin, it is time to move on. Come to the national scene. Come to the nation and build the nation as you have built this State.
Nation needs people who can work together and to Kharge ji also I will say Let us forget who is going to become the Prime Minister. Let us first win the election (2024 Lok Sabha polls), then think who is going to become the Prime Minister.”
It is not the Prime Minister that matters but it is the nation that matters and if the country is saved, then its 140 crore people are protected, the senior political leader said. All the opposition leaders need to work together and that is the need of the hour, he further said.
"Wake up, unite," he said and work for the nation where all people could live in peace with honour and dignity. Peace could emerge only when people are happy. Citing factors like unemployment and price rise, he said in such a scenario the nation cannot be strong.
However, the DMK president threw his party's weight behind the Congress and said arguments by some favouring a front without the Grand Old Party should be rejected.
Stalin, in his birthday address asserted that post-poll alliance and third front are not workable proposals. The event is a launch pad for a new era of politics in India and it was a thing of joy for him, the Chief Minister said.
"Rather than who should form the government, the 2024 LS election is about who must not capture power," he said.
Stalin alleged that the BJP is dividing the country based on communal fascism.
"The BJP must be defeated politically. This must be the single goal for all opposition parties."
Batting for a spirit of unity among opposition parties, the Dravidian party chief said it would bring victory in the general elections.
"If national politics is decided based on State-based political differences, the loss is for us," he said, a reference to State-specific political realities that hindered bringing like-minded parties together to take on the BJP.