I.N.D.I.A Bloc To Announce PM Name In Less Than 3 Days After Getting 'Clear' Mandate: Jairam Ramesh

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh emphasised that the I.N.D.I.A bloc will win with a clear and decisive mandate, would announce the PM's name within 3 days of the election results on June 4.

A file photo of Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.

Source : PTI

The Congress lashed out at the BJP on Friday over its "five PMs in five years" remark against the I.N.D.I.A bloc, stating that the alliance which is set to obtain a "clear and decisive" mandate in the Lok Sabha polls, will have a single prime minister for a full five-year term. Congress general secretary, Jairam Ramesh, mentioned that the I.N.D.I.A bloc would announce the prime minister's name within three days of the election results on June 4.

PM Narendra Modi has reiterated in his poll rallies against the bloc, asserting that it has plans to have five prime ministers in five years if comes to power.

According to news agency PTI, Ramesh predicted that June 4 will bring a "clear and decisive mandate" for the I.N.D.I.A bloc, and 20 years later, history will repeat itself just as it did in 2004. Despite its 'India Shining' campaign, the BJP was defeated in the 2004 general elections, and the Congress-led UPA took office.

"Those who repeatedly raise the question of who will be PM (if the I.N.D.I.A bloc comes to power), I want to remind you that in 2004, after the Congress and its allies got the mandate, within three days Dr Manmohan Singh's name was announced for PM post," the Congress leader outlined.

Jairam Ramesh Says I.N.D.I.A Bloc To Announce PM Candidate In Under 3 Days

Jairam Ramesh asserted, "This time it will not even be three days, one person will be prime minister for five years to run the government". He also said that the PM candidate will be selected democratically by members of the I.N.D.I.A bloc. "Elections in our country are not a beauty contest. In our country, an election is between parties, our democracy is party-centric and not person-centric," Ramesh said, as quoted by PTI.

"This is why the question that is repeatedly raised who will be prime minister is a wrong question. The right question is which party and which alliance will get the mandate," the Congress leader also added at the conference in the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, as quoted by PTI.

I.N.D.I.A Bloc Going To Get A Clear And Decisive Mandate: Jairam Ramesh

Elections are scheduled for June 1 for Punjab's 13 seats and the single seat in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, while all 10 seats in Haryana will be held on Saturday. "Going by the indications, it became clear after the first two phases (April 19 and 26) that the I.N.D.I.A bloc is going to get a clear and decisive mandate," Ramesh said.

He claimed that Polling for 428 seats has been completed in five phases. But from the first two phases which were held in April has become clear that the BJP has been wiped out in the southern part of India, and reduced to half in the rest part of the country.

Performance of the Congress and the I.N.D.I.A bloc is very strong this time in comparison to the 2019 polls, he highlighted. The language the prime minister has been using in his speeches has changed since April 19, said Ramesh.

Furthermore, he asserted that Modi's campaign, which began on April 19, has been founded on "communalisation," using anti-Hindu and anti-Muslim rhetoric at every turn. "No talk of Viksit Bharat, Modi ki guarantee or issues of farmers, the youth, women, workers, SCs, STs and OBCs," he stated.

Ramesh claimed that the prime minister had made "bogus statements" such as asserting that the Congress will grant reservations based on a person's religion and that the Congress manifesto bore the imprint of the Muslim League.