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Senior Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut has claimed that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will decide who should become the Prime Minister if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins 100 seats less in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections than last time.
Raut made the comment during an interview with The Indian Express.
Asked if the Sena was comfortable with Narendra Modi being the BJP’s face as it had previously criticised the latter, Raut said: “On (Modi) being the prime ministerial face, we have Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership in Maharashtra. It has to be noted that Nitish Kumar is the face (of the NDA) in Bihar, Parkash Singh Badal in Punjab.”
Raut also quashed earlier reports that he was backing Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for the Prime Ministerial post. “I did not back Gadkari for PM. Such reports have been coming from the media and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). We have not placed any such condition (of Gadkari being PM) before the BJP. Besides, why name just Gadkari? BJP has several faces. If BJP wins 100 seats less than last time, NDA will decide who should be the PM,” he added.
Also read: Opinion | The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is one among equals
The comments come days after the Sena and the BJP announced they would fight the Lok Sabha polls together, stating that their 'core beliefs' are the same.
For the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP will contest on 25 seats and Sena will contest 23 seats, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. The parties also decided on a 50-50 arrangement for the Assembly elections, he said, adding that the remaining seats would be divided among other NDA members in the state.
Also read: Comment | The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is a victory for Uddhav Thackeray
Maharashtra has the second largest pool of Lok Sabha seats at 48 after Uttar Pradesh at 80. The state has 288 Assembly seats.
The Sena has been publicly criticising the BJP on a number of issues. In early 2018, the Sena had announced that it would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the Maharashtra Assembly elections separately over disagreements with the BJP. However, there has been a thaw in their relationship in recent months.
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