New Delhi: The Janata Dal United national executive meet is set to be held in the national capital on Saturday. JD(U) office bearers met party chief Sharad Yadav on Saturday morning ahead of the meeting.
The JD(U) has already raised pitch on the Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate. It has clearly said that it wants the name to be announced at the earliest. JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwari though said that the PM candidate will be from the BJP.
He said, "Rajnath Singh is right in what he said about our relation with NDA being old and lasting. When we joined BJP, they were considered to be untouchables. Nitish Kumar has said that the PM candidate's name must be announced and that it will be from BJP."
Sources say that the JD(U) wants that the PM candidate must have impeccable secular credentials. This even as the BJP reached out to its ally on Friday night. Sources say BJP President Rajnath Singh spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav and asked its ally not to insist on an early declaration of its PM candidate and also not openly oppose Narendra Modi.
The national executive called to discuss the current political situation in the country is likely to pass a resolution asking the BJP to declare its Prime Ministerial candidate. Sources say the JD(U) could give a time frame to the BJP to do so. Sources also say that the JD(U) would reiterate that the PM candidate should be acceptable to BJP allies and to all sections of the society. Most importantly, impeccable secular credentials are a must. But JD(U) sources stress that they do not want the alliance to break and will remind the BJP that previous BJP President Nitin Gadkari had assured Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 2012 that Modi isn't a PM candidate.
Having taken his opposition to Modi, a crescendo concern for Nitish Kumar now is when should he call off his 17 years of marriage with the BJP. JD(U) leaders say they are worried about the impact it would have on the organisational structures and carefully engineered caste equation in Bihar.
The BJP pre-empting a difficulty that may arise post the meet, reached out to its old friend on Friday night. Top party leaders spoke to Nitish and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav and asked them not to insist on early declaration of the PM candidate and not to oppose a specific name, that is of the Gujarat Chief Minister.
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