Chennai, August 5: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Sunday said he has no issues in projecting Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the Opposition's prime ministerial face for the 2019 Lok Sabha general elections. Gowda said Banerjee is pursuing the task of the formation of a federal front seriously after the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam that excluded 40 lakh people from the list in the eastern state.

The remark by Gowda comes against the backdrop of reports that Congress and other opposition parties favour leaving the issue of a prime ministerial candidate for the post-election phase as they feel that opposition unity could be hurt if the subject is taken up ahead of the polls, a PTI report said.

Gowda, whose party has formed a coalition government in Karnataka with the support of the Congress, said the Congress will play a crucial role in forging opposition unity in the bid by the alliance to dislodge the BJP from power. It must be noted that the remark comes days after top Congress sources indicated that the party will not mind a nominee for the top post from any Opposition alliance.

According to a report by PTI, the 85-year old former prime minister noted while the formation of a third front is still in the "early stage" Banerjee is "trying her best" to bring all the non-BJP parties together. Gowda headed the Janata Dal-led United Front (UF) coalition government in 1996 but his tenure did not last more than a year.

When Gowda was asked if he would support the TMC chief as the prime ministerial face of the opposition, he said, "Most welcome if Mamata is projected as PM. Indira Gandhi ruled as prime minister for 17 years. Why should we (men) alone become PM? Why not Mamata or Mayawati?". Indicating he is not opposed to a woman prime minister, Gowda said he had piloted the women's reservation bill in Parliament way back in 1996.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 05, 2018 08:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).