New Delhi, Apr. 18 (ANI): Taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over the infighting within its fold with regard to the Prime Ministerial candidate, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Thursday said that different voices were emanating from the opposition camp as compared to one unified agenda of the ruling Congress Party.
"I don't think individuals are relevant from our perspective. In fact, individuals are really irrelevant. But the different voices emanating from within the NDA alliance do in very sharp relief, when juxtaposed against the UPA, bring out a fact that while the UPA is focused on public interest, on the development of this country," said Tewari.
"Within the NDA all that you hear are individual ambitions, which are trying to compete against each other," he added.
The BJP, however, said that there was no internal rift within the party and its NDA partners.
"NDA is together. It is united and is fighting, both inside the Parliament and outside, against the corruption and inflation spread by the Congress Party," said BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain.
"As far as the decision for the PM candidate is concerned, the BJP's parliamentary board would discuss on it when the time is right and will talk to its NDA partners and then only decide the candidate," he added.
Reiterating his party's demand for a secular Prime Ministerial candidate, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had last weekend made a scathing attack on his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi, and said that the Janata Dal (United) is not ready to compromise on secularism.
The JD (U), which appears to have made up its mind that it would accept only someone with a secular image, does not want to wait till the very end and wants the BJP to declare its leader for 2014 now.
The JD (U), which has 20 Lok Sabha MPs, is averse to Modi being touted by many to be the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, due to the 2002 communal riots.
Moreover, the Shiv Sena, which is the oldest alliance partner of the BJP, yesterday sought to put pressure on the party seeking a meeting of the NDA to decide on the name of a Prime Ministerial candidate to bring an end to the prevailing 'confusion' as to who would lead the alliance.
"BJP has the right to name its PM candidate but it cannot do so on its own steam. This (NDA) is Arjuna's chariot and has many horses (allies). Every horse is important. Or else, there will be a different Mahabharat and the chariot wheel will get stuck," the Shiv Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'. (ANI)
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