New Delhi - Backing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's statement in which he asked his alliance partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to name a prime ministerial candidate with secular credentials, Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said that India is a secular country and our prime minister should be a secular.
"Nitish Kumar's statement is a welcome thing. We are a secular country and our prime minister has to be a secular," Khurshid told media here.
"Whosoever becomes the prime minister, they are responsible for the whole nation. They can't be biased," he added.
Seeking to rest all speculation, Nitish Kumar in an interview to a national daily has asserted that he is not in the prime ministerial race. However, without taking names, he has also made it clear that JD (U) will not accept the leadership of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
He insisted that the NDA should name its Prime Ministerial candidate before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the candidate must have secular credentials and a liberal frame of mind.
"NDA should declare its candidate in advance. This leader should be acceptable to every constituent of the alliance. To me, the leader of the coalition should have secular credentials. It should be someone who has absolute faith in democratic values," he said.
"In a multi-religious and multi-lingual country like ours, the leader should not have rough edges in his personality. An alliance can win the confidence of the people only if the leader is seen
as accommodating," he added.
Nitish Kumar's candid comments appear to be aimed at setting the rules of the game before the NDA starts to mull over the strategy to take on the UPA in 2014.
The latest war-of-words seems to have been sparked off by Modi's recent comments on Bihar.
Speaking at a public rally in Rajkot, Modi had reportedly said, " Bihar, at one point of time, was a political and spiritual leader of the country, but it slipped into socio-economical backwardness ever since the casteist leadership took centre stage."
| Other Articles: |
 |
Visitors pay homage to Shah Jahan at concluding death anniversary ceremony in Agra (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Confusion lingers on consensus-based president for India (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Two Bangladeshis arrested in Gurgaon (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Six held for stealing Pakistan-bound cotton (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
West Bengal report sought on Ghishing petition (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Garden of Shimla's heritage hotel caves in (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Akhilesh promises a new Agra (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
A clean, clutter-free BSF, courtesy intranet (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
'Central agencies not given access to arrested Kashmir cops' (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
US keen on New Silk Road for trade, commerce (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Massive security for 2013 Allahabad Kumbh Mela (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Kerala seeks chartered flights from Middle East (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Girl dies in celebratory firing (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
BJP pits Pant against Uttarakhand CM (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
French official held for sexually abusing daughter (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Andhra CBI judge arrested in cash-for-bail case (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Does Kashmir's 'residual militancy' still have fangs in uniform? (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Today's children want to burst into poetry: Ruskin Bond (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Shiv Sena pitches in for Pranab Mukherjee for president (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Thackeray supports Pranab for presidency (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Hot Tuesday for Delhi (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
French diplomat arrested for sexually abusing daughter (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Heritage sites in 'Queen of Hills' set for facelift (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
BJP to contest presidential poll, undecided on candidate (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
'Coalition politics eroding PM's, chief ministers' authority' (19th Jun, 2012) |
|
Jobs |
Blog |
Yellow Pages |
Games |
Jokes |
Chat |
e-Cards |
Astrology |
Articles |
Recipes |
Send Gifts
Today : Friday - May 24, 2013, 03:01am (GMT+5.5)
