Patna: Under pressure to declare its chief ministerial candidate for the Bihar Assembly elections, the BJP today said that the decision will be taken by the party leadership at an appropriate time.
“We are not divulging our stand on the chief ministerial face for the Bihar Assembly polls as per strategy....a decision will be taken by the BJP leadership at an appropriate time,” the senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said on the sidelines of a Janata Durbar at his residence here.
Modi said the BJP was presently preoccupied with the legislative council elections scheduled for July 7, the results of which would be declared on July 10.
Replying to questions on the issue, the senior BJP leader said the party would take care of the matter in due course - whether it would go to the hustings by projecting a chief ministerial face or contest under collective leadership.
Amid media reports doing the rounds quoting Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar that the BJP would not declare its chief ministerial face for the Bihar polls and go with a collective leadership, Sushil Modi said he has been directed to issue a rebuttal.
Kumar has asked him to deny on his behalf that he had never said anything on the BJP not going with a chief ministerial face in the Bihar Assembly polls or otherwise, he said.
On the legislative council elections, the BJP leader said a seat sharing agreement has been reached among the NDA allies with the BJP contesting 18 seats, while the LJP and RLSP contesting four and two seats respectively.
Sushil said the NDA would gain, but the JD(U) and its allies would find it hard to retain their 19 seats as their candidates would be judged by the electorate on the basis of performance of the state government.
"The secular alliance will be tested in the legislative council polls as they will have to give an account of the state government's performance, which has been abysmal to say the least," the BJP leader said.
He also exuded confidence that NDA would do well in the biennial polls, deemed in the political circles as semi-finals before the crucial Assembly elections due later this year.
The BJP leader also questioned the durability of the alliance between the RJD and JD(U) for the Assembly polls, saying RJD supremo Lalu Prasad may have gulped poison for the time being to accept Nitish Kumar as the chief ministerial face but would not miss the first opportunity to stab Kumar.
"Prasad will definitely stab Kumar at the first opportunity if their alliance gets the number to form the government," the former deputy chief minister said, adding the RJD supremo has never been known to stand by anybody except his family members.
