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Updated: Dec 20, 2018 11:15 IST

Rejecting DMK leader Stalin’s backing of Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the Oppposition’s prime minister candidate, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the issue could be discussed after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

“It could be discussed only after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, once the opposition alliance emerged winners. All (opposition) parties will meet and decide on the issue. We will accept that,” Banerjee said, reports PTI

MK Stalin had showered Rahul Gandhi with praises at a function to unveil a statue of his father and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, describing the Congress president as one leader who has the “ability to defeat the fascist BJP”.

The generous praise came days after Gandhi delivered on three politically-crucial states in the heartland, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It was the Congress’s first big win since 2014 when Narendra Modi-led BJP decimated the grand old party in the general elections

(Read More: DMK’s backing of Rahul is a sign of things to come)

Asked whether she was one of the contenders for the job, the Trinamool Congress supremo said, “This is not the time to discuss this issue. And I am not alone. We are working together. We are solidly together,” she said.

The TMC earlier said announcing prime ministerial candidate now would be premature would as it would divide the Opposition camp.

On reports of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) coming together for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls without the Congress, Banerjee said, “This is very good. It is local compulsion. We appreciate that.” The Congress could also be fighting alone in places due to similar compulsions, she said.

Earlier, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav also distanced himself from Stalin’s proposal saying, “It is not necessary it (Stalin’s proposal) is the alliance opinion.”

Many Opposition leaders are apprehensive that naming a candidate could prove counter-productive. “We have to look at maximising the Opposition votes against the BJP, but many senior regional satraps may not agree to fight an election projecting Gandhi or any particular name as the PM,” said a senior Congress strategist.

e time to discuss it’: Mamata on Stalin’s pitch for Rahul as PM