On Sunday, at an Opposition parties' meet, MK Stalin of DMK proposed Rahul Gandhi's name for the prime minister candidature of the anti-BJP forces led by the Congress. Within hours, a few parties have started disagreeing with Stalin.

TMC has already sounded its disagreement informally. After the West Bengal party, Mayawati's BSP, Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, Akhilesh Yadav's SP and NCP in Maharashtra too are understood to have informally supported TMC's view that the PM should be decided only after the 2019 Lok Sabha election results are out.

The parties fear that Rahul may only benefit the BJP by allowing himself to challenge Narendra Modi directly. If it's Modi Vs Rahul, it's a no-contest and the PM will have the last laugh, they fear