‘It's advantage Modi if…’: Owaisi on Opposition's PM face for 2024 LS polls

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that no single opposition party or PM face will be enough to defeat the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Making a sharp observation on the upcoming general elections, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday indicated that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will have a clear edge over the Opposition if only a particular face is pitted against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi speaks to the media. (ANI file)

In an interview with ANI editor-in-chief Smita Prakash, Owaisi said that a single opposition party or face will not be enough to defeat the BJP and that the Opposition needs to come together and galvanise in each Lok Sabha constituency to win the 2024 elections.

“The Opposition should look to put up a tough fight for all the 540 parliamentary constituencies. If a single opposition face fights against BJP, the latter will benefit,” he said and added, “If it's Modi versus (Arvind) Kejriwal or Rahul Gandhi, the PM would be at an advantage.”

When asked about whether Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee can be pitted against PM Modi, Owaisi said, “Mamata Banerjee (recently) held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. So one is not certain if she should be the Opposition face against PM Modi.”

“CM Banerjee passes a resolution in the Parliament against BJP, but then praises PM Modi,” the AIMIM chief further criticised.

A lot of speculation has been brewing as political parties begin campaigning for the crucial election due next year. Banerjee had earlier called on the chief ministers of all Opposition-ruled states to come together and put up a united fight against the BJP in 2024.

Many have also deemed Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra to be a political campaign for the upcoming LS polls. However, the grand old party has denied the speculations.

While talks grow about who will be the Congress' PM face, the Aam Aadmi Party – which was recently elevated to a national party rank – has claimed that the 2024 battle will be one between Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and PM Modi.

At the same time, lesser known baiter of the BJP at Centre, Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao also recently remodelled his party – the Telangana Rashtra Samithi – as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to get recognised as a national party.

In 2019, the Opposition had formed a grand alliance in a bid to upstage the Modi government but the alliance fell apart without achieving its objective.

(With ANI inputs)