New Delhi:
In a resolution adopted on the second and final day of the Janata Dal (United)'s national executive meet in Delhi, the party listed out criteria for the NDA coalition's prime ministerial candidate. Topping the list is the demand that the PM candidate should have a secular image. A strong hint that Narendra Modi will not be acceptable to them for the top job.
"It is up to the BJP to decide on a secular candidate who also looks out for the common man," said the party's Bihar unit president Vashista Narayan Singh. The JD(U) has also given its ally, the BJP, time till the end of the year to declare a prime ministerial candidate.
"The Janata Dal (United) wants the name of NDA leader should be announced... name of the candidate should be before the end of this year," Mr Singh added.
Since his third election win in Gujarat, many in the BJP feel Mr Modi is the party's best bet for the 2014 elections. But to Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) strongman Nitish Kumar, who relies on the 15 per cent Muslim population in Bihar for electoral support, the Gujarat Chief Minister is unacceptable. Mr Modi was in office when Gujarat was ravaged by communal riots in 2002, in which around 1200 people were killed, most of the Muslims.
Earlier in the day, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav admitted that the party has many ideological differences with the BJP, despite being its partner in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition.
"Many other issues which BJP, we don't agree... Masjid-Mandir issue - we don't share the same ideology," Mr Yadav said. It was a subtle hint by the JD(U) too that Mr Modi is not acceptable to his party as the prime ministerial nominee for the NDA.
The JD(U) chief, however, also cautioned his partymen against publicly airing their views. "I appeal to those who express concerns, differences to the media... Tyagi ji spoke yesterday, I have never mentioned anyone's name, Nitish Ji has never mentioned anyone's name," said Mr Yadav.
JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi was yesterday unsparing in his criticism of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the riots of 2002 in which 1200 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. "He (Mr Modi) was unable to deal with the aftermath of the riots as he should have," he had said.