Narendra Modi won't remain PM in 2019, claims TMC leader

All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not remain Prime Minister when the time came for him to deliver his Independence Day speech at the Red Fort in 2019.

The Trinamool leader challenged PM Modi and said that if the BJP was aiming at coming to power in Bengal, then the BJP's target was the Red Fort, the place from where PM Modi delivers his Independence Day speech.

"First tackle 2019 and then imagine about Bengal. This is our clear message to the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). If their target is Bengal, then our target is Lal Qila (Red Fort). I make it clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not deliver his address from Lal Qila on the Independence Day in 2019," O'Brien said while addressing the media on Sunday.

Derek O'Brien's remarks came a day after the BJP sweeped Tripura, and for the first time won more than 10 seats in Nagaland.

Challenging the prime minister, Derek O'Brien asked all the opposition parties to come together.

The TMC leader also highlighted the party's poor show in the Rajasthan Lok Sabha bypolls.

"The results of the bypolls in Rajasthan came out only 15 days ago. It included Alwar seat where the BJP won by a margin of 2.80 lakh votes in 2014. But this time the BJP's margin of 2.80 lakh votes has gone down to minus 1.50 lakh," said the TMC leader.

On Saturday, the BJP ended the CPI(M)'s 25-year-long rule in Tripura and registered their first win in the northeastern state by winning 35 seats out of 60. The left party won only 16 seats.