Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen asserted that it “would be a mistake” to think that the 2024 Lok Sabha election would be a one-horse race in favour of the BJP, and felt that the role of a number of regional parties would play an important role in the upcoming general election.

The 90-year-old economist also said that though Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has the ability to be India’s next Prime Minister, it is yet to be established whether the West Bengal Chief Minister could be able to pull the forces of public dismay against the BJP. “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 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,” he told PTI.