Annoyed over attempts to project Narendra Modi as BJP’s PM candidate, Janata Dal-U today bluntly told the opposition party to realise that alliances are formed with “great difficulty“.
“Alliances are formed with great difficulty and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha’s statement is uncalled for in the context of alliances,” JD-U chief Sharad Yadav, who is also convenor of the BJP-led NDA, told PTI.
Sinha openly pitched for declaring Modi as BJP’s PM candidate saying it will benefit the party in a big way.
To a query as to how the JD-U, which is a key ally of the BJP in the NDA, sees Sinha’s demand, Yadav said, “You should ask this to the BJP President or spokesperson. No announcement has been made in this regard from the BJP so there is no point talking about it“.
“We used to run alliance earlier also. Now I have responsibility in NDA and I want to again say that alliances are formed with great difficulty”, Yadav said.
Earlier, JD-U spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari dismissed Sinha’s demand as his “personal” view while making it clear that it has no love lost for the Gujarat Chief Minister.
Tiwari said the JD-U will wait for BJP’s “official stand” on the issue as its leader Nitish Kumar has already conveyed the party’s views on NDA Prime Ministerial candidate.
“Whatever we had to say on the issue (of who should be NDA’s PM candidate) our leader Nitish Kumar has already conveyed to the BJP.... He has also spoken clearly about what kind of a person should be the Prime Ministerial candidate. So the ball is in BJP’s court,” Tiwari told reporters.
Kumar, who has had reservations on sharing stage with Modi and his campaigning in Bihar, earlier broadly indicated to the BJP that the Gujarat Chief Minister with his Hindutva hardliner image will not be acceptable to JD(U) as the NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate. The Bihar Chief Minister had also said publicly that NDA’s candidate for the post should be somebody who is secular and is acceptable across the board.PTI