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Modi as PM candidate hypothetical, says Nitish

Patna: Distancing himself from BJP’s victory in Gujarat, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sought to suggest that he does not see Narendra Modi as a Prime Ministerial candidate.

“BJP has decided to project L K Advani as the next Prime Ministerial candidate and he is acceptable to all parties in the NDA. I don’t think beyond that as Mr. Modi becoming candidate for PM’s job is a hypothetical question,” he said. In an interview, Mr. Kumar disassociated his party JD(U), a key NDA ally, with Mr. Modi’s victory in Gujarat.

“The JD (U) has nothing to do with BJP or Mr. Modi’s victory in Gujarat Assembly elections as we contested separately. Moreover, NDA Chairman A B Vajpayee and the BJP have made it clear that Mr. L K Advani will be the party’s candidate for Prime Ministerial candidate in the next poll,” he said when asked if Mr. Modi would be acceptable to JD(U) as future Prime Minister.

“If you (the media) want to raise an issue within the BJP over Mr. Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate, you are free (to do so),” he added.

Asked to compare the tenure of Mr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. Vajpayee as Prime Minister, he said, while the BJP patriarch was a mass leader, this was not the case with Mr. Manmohan Singh.- PTI

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Modi as PM candidate hypothetical, says Nitish

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