Banners greet Rahul Gandhi as future PM

Mumbai: At a time when the Congress is trying to cobble a wider anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance, party president Rahul Gandhi was greeted in Mumbai on Tuesday with banners declaring him the future Prime Minister of the country.

The banners were put up by Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam at Goregaon National Exhibition Centre, the venue of Mr Gandhi’s rally. Suraj Singh Thakur, Maharashtra youth Congress vice-president, too, put up similar banners. At a time when the Congress is trying to forge a nationwide alliance of smaller parties, these banners are likely to have repercussions at the national level.

One of the banners read, “We welcome the future Prime Minister of India, Rahul Gandhi, at the booth-level workers’ meeting in Mumbai.” The banners were put up prominently at gate number three from where all senior party leaders entered the venue. As the occasion was the booth-level workers’ meeting of the Mumbai Congress, the banners were taken as the party’s official stand on the post of PM ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Interestingly, the banners come at a time when the Congress is trying to put together an alliance of major regional parties across the country. However, the key question as to who will lead this grand alliance remained unanswered, till now. Meanwhile, it is being said that the alliance will have no single leader and the issue of leadership will be decided after the election.

While speaking to his workers on Sunday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s statement on the issue is significant. Mr Pawar said, “We don’t see any problem over leadership. It will be decided later. What is more important is to come together now and I see that is happening.”

Against this backdrop, the banners put up on Tuesday could prove troublesome for the Congress at the national level.