No decision on Modi as PM candidate, says BJP leader

IANS/Panaji

A decision on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate will only be taken by the party’s parliamentary board “when it is appropriate” and not when the national executive meets here next month, a senior leader said yesterday.

“The decision for the post of prime ministerial candidate is for the party’s parliamentary board to decide. They will take a decision on the issue when it is appropriate,” BJP general secretary J P Nadda said.

Nadda was in Goa to brief reporters about the forthcoming national executive, to be held in June.

He refused to admit that the BJP was being cautious about deciding on its prime ministerial candidate.

The BJP’s national executive will be attended by 340 party leaders, including all national office bearers, chief ministers, opposition leaders, organising secretaries, state presidents, and others. BJP leader L K Advani, party president Rajnath Singh and some past presidents of the party would also be present, Nadda said.

Among the key issues to be discussed at the meeting would be various strategies with an eye on the next Lok Sabha polls and issues related to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government’s corruption and its disregard of constitutional bodies like the office of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, Comptroller Auditor General, Joint Parliamentary Committees and even the Supreme Court.

“The UPA is at the height of arrogance and frustration. The BJP feels that the UPA has no right to stay and it has never been honest to the cause of the people,” Nadda said.

Nadda also said the meeting would discuss India’s external affairs strategy which he claimed was in a shambles.

“Even our neighbours and small nations are not taking India seriously,” Nadda said.