No vacancy for PM's post: Pradhan on Amartya Sen's claim on 'Mamata can become next Prime Minister'

Kolkata, Jan 15: Asserting that the NDA will win the 2024 general election under the leadership of Narendra Modi, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday quipped that no vacancy exists in India for the prime minister's post.

Asked about Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's observation that TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has the ability to become the prime minister, Pradhan told reporters that the incumbent, Narendra Modi, is confident that people will stand by him.

"There is no vacancy for the post of prime minister in India. People of the country have reposed faith in Narendra Modi for two terms in a row," he told reporters at Sonarpur, on the southern outskirts of Kolkata, before the commencement of an organisational meeting of the BJP.

He maintained that the poor, women, youth, backward and rural people have given Modi the responsibility of running the country.

"There is no doubt that the NDA will win again in 2024, under the leadership of Modi," he said.

The 90-year-old economist has said in an interview to PTI that the 2024 general election will not be a one-horse race in favour of the BJP, and the West Bengal chief minister has the potential to become the prime minister of India.

He said, "I think a number of regional parties are clearly important. I think the DMK is an important party, the TMC is certainly important and the Samajwadi Party (SP) has some standing but whether that could be extended

"I do not know. I think it would be a mistake to take the dismissive view that there is no other party that can take the place of BJP since it has established itself as a party with a vision that is inclined in the direction of Hindus over the rest of the country."