Pranab Mukherjee could be PM in 2019: Shiv Sena

New Delhi: Trying to queer the pitch for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Shiv Sena on Saturday spoke of the possibility of former President Pranab Mukherjee being a “consensus candidate” to lead an NDA government if the BJP fails to get a majority on its own in the 2019 general elections.

The editorial in the latest edition of Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna claims that “political corridors in Delhi are abuzz with the possibility of Dr Mukherjee being a consensus candidate for the PM’s post” if the BJP fails to garner a majority in the Lok Sabha.

The BJP has already announced that it will contest the next Lok Sabha polls under Mr Modi’s leadership. And no other political party, from the NDA or from the non-NDA groupings, has publicly said anything in this regard. Comments by the BJP’s disgruntled ally have come three days after BJP president Amit Shah met Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai to placate him, and two days after Dr Mukherjee visited the RSS’ headquarters in Nagpur and addressed the concluding session of the 25-day annual third year training camp.

Despite Mr Shah’s efforts to placate the Sena boss, the BJP ally remains firm in its stand to go alone in the Lok Sabha polls and has also sent out a message to its cadre in this regard. The BJP, sources said, has also asked its cadre to start preparing to fight elections from all the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.

Sources disclosed that though Sena’s decision to leave the NDA fold will depend on the performance of the BJP in the 2019 elections, it seems that it will remain a regular irritant for the BJP till then.

The Sena, miffed ever since the BJP staked claim to the chief minister’s post in Maharashtra though it was considered the “big brother”, and rejected Sena’s demand for two additional Cabinet berths in the Modi government, has on various occasions criticised the BJP and its leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and taken an opposing stand. Sena had supported suggestions of a second term for Dr Mukherjee as President. And recently, Sena supported the perceived remarks by Congress president Rahul Gandhi on being a PM aspirant and had added, with wicked intent, that “for us even (NCP supremo) Sharad Pawar is a suitable candidate” for the PM post.

Despite all this, and the Sena continues to be in the NDA. Sena’s comments are sure to irritate the BJP as they have also come at a time when the BJP is trying to put its house in order by reaching out to its allies, many of whom accuse it of being “unaccommodating.”

While the recent meeting between Mr Shah and Mr Thackery failed to resolve the simmering issues between the two allies, another meeting of the NDA allies is said to be on the cards to iron out differences ahead of the 2019 electoral battle.