In what is being described as the battle cry for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a call has been made by the combined Opposition parties in the country that Rahul Gandhi should be the Prime Ministerial candidate to take on Narendra Modi. DMK president MK Stalin who was the host of a mammoth public rally at Chennai on Sunday evening, asked the people in the country, including all the major political parties to elect Rahul as the Prime Minister in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“Only Rahul has the ability and capability to defeat the fascist-Nazist-communal Narendra Modi Government,” declared Stalin in the public meeting which was attended by a galaxy of Opposition leaders that included UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Chief Ministers N Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala), V Narayanasamy (Puducherry) and a host of other leaders.
Earlier in the day, Sonia unveiled the life-size statue of late DMK chief M Karunanidhi at Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters in Chennai’s Mount Road. Sonia and Rahul flew down to Chennai to attend the function. It may be noted that in 2004, it was Karunanidhi, then DMK president, who wanted the Opposition parties to endorse the name of Sonia as Prime Minister of the country.
“We will build a new India. Welcome Rahul, give the nation good governance. As the son of Dr Kalaignar, I propose the candidature of Rahul from Tamil Nadu, “ said Stalin. This is the first time Stalin or for that matter anybody from the Opposition benches proposed the name of Rahul for the post of PM though the Congress leaders had made it known many times in the recent past that the young president of the party would lead the nation and take India to new heights.
Even Stalin sounded hesitant in naming anybody as the prime ministerial candidate immediately after his election as the DMK president in August 2018. “We will decide such things later,” Stalin had told a Press meeting after his elevation as the party chief.
With Sunday’s declaration at Chennai, the battle lines are drawn and Rahul Gandhi has his tasks cut out for the next course of action. In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Modi, Stalin said that last for and half years of Modi rule has put the country’s calendar back by 15 years. “India’s Constitution as well as communal harmony is in danger. The economy is in doldrums. If Modi is allowed to rule the country or another five years, he would take the country back by 50 years,” said Stalin who described Modi as a sadist.
If the tenor of his speeches is any indication, it has put to rest all speculation of a DMK-BJP alliance, which was in the air. The fact that Stalin chose to endorse Rahul Gandhi’s name as Prime Minister in the august gathering of the Opposition stalwarts has made it clear that the last word on who will lead the Opposition has been finalised.
The “Rahul for Prime Minister” slogan will reverberate across north India as the DMK president and other Opposition leaders are expected to participate in the swearing-in ceremonies of the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in the coming days. Interestingly, it is a repetition of what happened in the 2004 public meeting held at Chennai when the then DMK chief M Karunanidhi wanted the Opposition to stand solidly behind the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi to defeat the “communal BJP”.