Continuing to dodge the issue of Prime Ministerial candidate, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh on Sunday maintained that the decision in this regard would be taken by the party’s Central Parliamentary Board (CPB).
Mr. Rajnath conceded that at this stage, it was hard to zero-in on a candidate acceptable to the entire NDA. Answering to a question as to why the BJP was shying away from naming Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate, the BJP President said, “There is a tradition in the party to decide such issues in the CPB.”
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Pointing out that before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, it was the CPB which had chosen L.K. Advani as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Mr. Rajnath said, “Why do you want us to change this practise now?” He described Mr. Modi as a “very capable and popular leader”, but added there was no dearth of such good leaders in the party. He said that at this stage it was “difficult to name any leader” acceptable both to the BJP and the NDA.
Wanting the BJP to come to power on its own in the 2014 general elections, Mr. Rajnath said that the party will not forget the allies.