INDIA bloc to pick PM within two days, party with maximum seats ‘natural claimant’ to post: Congress
The Opposition alliance will get seats ‘well above’ the 272-mark needed for a majority in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
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The Opposition INDIA bloc will pick its prime minister within two days, with the party that gets the maximum seats in the coalition will be the “natural claimant” to the post, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told PTI on Wednesday.
Ramesh made the comments on the last day of the Lok Sabha elections campaign. The final phase of polling will take place on June 1. The counting of votes will happen on June 4.
“In 2004, the [Lok Sabha] election results came out on May 13 and the UPA [United Progressive Alliance] was formed on May 16,” Ramesh told the news agency. “Dr Manmohan Singh’s name as the prime minister was floated on May 17.”
He added that it took less than three days for Singh’s name to emerge, although everyone knew it was going to be him after Sonia Gandhi refused to accept the prime minister’s post.
“But this time I don’t think it will take even 48 hours [to decide on the prime minister],” Ramesh said. “Within a few hours the leader of the coalition will be picked. It stands to reason that the party that gets the maximum seats in the alliance will be a natural claimant for the leadership.”
The Congress general secretary said that the INDIA bloc will get seats “well above”...
