Modi does not have mandate like Nehru did: Sudip Bandyopadhyay

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay Sunday said Narendra Modi might be taking oath as prime minister for a third term, but he does not have a mandate like Jawaharlal Nehru, the only other PM to have three consecutive terms, had.

Bandyopadhyay, who was on Saturday re-elected as the leader of the TMC in Lok Sabha, also said the opposition will play a positive role in the functioning of parliament.

"People have given some opinion in his (PM Modi) favour... But it is not like Nehru ji (who) had the verdict behind him," he said.

Bandyopadhyay said the government is going to take an oath on Sunday "which is okay" according to democratic process but "our leader Mamata Banerjee has declared yesterday this government cannot last long".

Nehru was sworn in as the prime minister for the third time in 1962, when the Congress had won 361 seats, 10 down from the Lok Sabha polls of 1957. Asked about the role the Opposition, rejuvenated by its gains in this election, would play in the functioning of parliament, he said it will be more constructive if floor management happens properly.

"The role of the opposition will be positive. We will take decisions of our own... we are also partners of INDIA Alliance. Floor management, if it happens properly, then the role of Opposition will be more constructive," he said.

The TMC improved its tally in the Lok Sabha this time, winning 29 out of the 42 seats in West Bengal. It is the third largest opposition party after the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.

Opposition INDIA bloc has 234 MPs in the Lok Sabha, while the NDA has 293.