I don’t dream of becoming PM, says Uddhav Thackeray ahead of INDIA meet

Just hours ahead of the INDIA opposition bloc's meeting in the national capital, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and President of Shiv Sena (UBT), Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday declared that he does not harbour dreams of becoming the Prime Minister.

“I am not dreaming of any leadership role (Prime Minister) for INDIA… If others are having such ambitions, they have the right… Even when I became the Chief Minister, it was with great responsibility, and when the time came, I left the post instantly,” Thackeray said while addressing the media.

To persistent queries, the SS-UBT supremo said that nobody is being projected as the "Prime Ministerial face" of the INDIA bloc vis-a-vis Bharatiya Janata Party’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, though the Opposition alliance will have to decide on the issue very soon.

“We have not puffed up anybody’s head for the post of Prime Minister… Our top priority is to save democracy and it is for this objective that all the political parties with different ideologies from across the country have united to challenge the BJP.

"However, the INDIA alliance will have to take a decision (on the Prime Minister face) soon,” Thackeray noted.

The priority would be to appoint a Coordinator for the INDIA bloc, which is likely to be finalised on Tuesday, he added.

The SS-UBT leader, who was accompanied by other party leaders like Sanjay Raut, MP, and Leader of Opposition (Maharashtra Legislative Council) Ambadas Danve and others, said that he plans to make some suggestions at the meeting later in the day, which is converging four months after the last gathering of the bloc in Mumbai (August 30-September 1).

Saying that no post is permanent in a democracy, Thackeray cited the example of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, adding that even “Prime Minister Modi can be replaced”.