Modi versus who?: TMC's Sushmita Dev stresses needs to have alternative for PM

TMC MP Sushmita Dev said on Tuesday that Opposition parties in the country need to think of an alternative against Prime Minister Narendra Modi before going to the people to seek votes. Talking to PTI in Goa, Dev claimed that Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Mamata Banerjee is coming up as a “formidable force” against Modi.

She also said that has not entered the Assembly poll fray in Goa to cut the Congress’s votes but to expand the organization to other states. Assembly elections to all 40 seats in Goa will be held on February 14.

Targeting Congress, Dev said that despite being is the oldest party and having the strongest base, they fail against Modi because they have don't have an answer to "Modi versus who?"

“There is a big question in this country, Modi versus who? We have to answer that question. Unless we answer that question, we cannot go to the people,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

Mamata against Modi?

Dev said the need of the hour at the national level is to find an alternative because Congress has not failed in doing so. When she was asked whether the TMC wants to pitch Mamata Banerjee as the prime ministerial candidate (in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls), Dev said the prime ministerial face of the opposition has to be a collective decision.

“When people expected Sonia Gandhi to be the prime minister, she sacrificed (the post) for Dr. Manmohan Singh. So, Mrs. Gandhi is capable of making big sacrifices, that is her plus point. She may choose to sacrifice for anybody, and I think Mamata Banerjee is coming up as a leader at the national level- a formidable force against Narendra Modi,” she said.

(With inputs from agency)