I.N.D.I.A Bloc will announce PM's name within 3 days of winning the election: Jairam Ramesh

 

The Congress on Friday criticised the BJP for its "five PMs in five years" comment about the I.N.D.I.A bloc. They assured that if their alliance wins the Lok Sabha polls, they'll have one prime minister for the entire five-year term. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the bloc would reveal the prime minister's name within three days after the declaration of June 4 election results.

 

Earlier, PM Modi mentioned in his election rallies that I.N.D.I.A bloc plans to have five prime ministers in five years if it comes to power.

 

As per news agency PTI, Ramesh forecasted that June 4 will deliver a strong and clear victory for the I.N.D.I.A bloc. He likened it to the events of 2004 when despite the BJP's 'India Shining' campaign, they lost and the Congress-led UPA came to power.

"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.

"This time it will not even be three days, one person will be prime minister for five years to run the government," Ramesh said. He also mentioned that the candidate for Prime Minister will be chosen through a democratic process 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.

 

Elections for Punjab's 13 seats and the single seat in Chandigarh's Union Territory are set for June 1, while all 10 seats in Haryana will be contested 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 stated that polling for 428 seats has finished across five phases. Observations from the first two phases in April indicate the BJP's decline in southern India and a halving of its presence elsewhere. The Congress and the I.N.D.I.A bloc show notably improved performance compared to the 2019 elections. Ramesh noted a shift in the language used by the prime minister in speeches since April 19.

 

He further claimed that Modi's campaign, starting from April 19, has heavily relied on "communalization," consistently employing anti-Hindu and anti-Muslim language.

"No talk of Viksit Bharat, Modi ki guarantee or issues of farmers, the youth, women, workers, SCs, STs and OBCs," he stated.

Ramesh stated that the prime minister has made false statements, like claiming that the Congress would provide reservations based on religion and alleging that the Congress manifesto resembled that of the Muslim League.