Kolkata | Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Subramanian Swamy said on Tuesday that the country needs a genuine opposition which is not afraid of the ruling party.

Describing West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee as someone who cannot be “blackmailed”, he said she should be the prime minister of India.

"I do think that the country needs a genuine opposition which cannot be blackmailed by people in power,” Swamy said while speaking at an interactive session organised by FLO, the women's wing of FICCI, here.

“I know a lot of people today. They will not go beyond a point against the present government. Because they are afraid that ED will turn up or something else will turn up. That's not good for Indian democracy," the BJP leader said.

He also reiterated that India needs an opposition which is "not a friend" of the ruling party.

"You can find many people like that. Some do it boisterously and some do it quietly," he said.

"Mamata Banerjee should be the prime minister of India. She is a gutsy woman. Look at how she fought the communists. I met her 10 days ago but nobody knows (that)," Swamy said, adding that he knows her since she was fighting the CPI(M).

Asked about what transpired between Banerjee and him in that meeting, he said it was on how 2024 would be and what would be the shape of the economy then.

Referring to the TMC supremo, Swamy said it is "impossible to blackmail" her.

Asked about his opinion on the most powerful woman in the country today, the former MP said, "There was a time Jayalalitha could have been; there was a time when I thought of Mayawati. In the present situation...Mamata Banerjee. She is the only woman leader who has the guts to stand up. She is not complicit. " Referring to Hinduism, he said it is the longest-surviving religion in the world today. "With that, you have a broadminded attitude."