Communist Party of India-M (CPI-M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the name of the prime minister candidate will be decided only after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Yechury's remark comes a day after Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M K Stalin proposed the name of Rahul Gandhi as the next prime minister.
"It (proposing Rahul Gandhi's name) was only Stalin's opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, we learn from our country's history. A formation that forms an alternative government at the centre comes into existence only post-election," Yechury told media here.
Stalin, while addressing a public rally on Sunday in Chennai, had proposed the Congress president's name as the prime minister candidate.
"From the soil of Tamil Nadu, I propose the name of Rahul Gandhi for the prime ministerial candidate. I propose we will install a new Prime Minister in Delhi. He has got the ability to defeat the fascist Modi government," he had said.
Soon after this, CPI leader D Raja said a decision would be taken collectively by all parties.
"DMK president MK Stalin has proposed Rahul Gandhi should become the prime ministerial candidate in 2019. All other parties, particularly secular democratic parties, left parties will have to give consideration and deliberate on this issue. Let us see in the coming days how things are going to unfold," Raja told ANI.
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