Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley sought to downplay the spat between the BJP and its ally, the JD(U), over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s possible projection as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, the Rajya Sabha Opposition Leader Jaitley said that there was no controversy between the BJP and the JD(U).
“I don’t think there is any controversy. As I have said Modi is certainly a very popular leader of the BJP and we are proud of that fact.. More over it is a media news item and the party cannot react to it”, Jaitley said when asked about reports that former BJP president Nitin Gadkari told Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that his Gujarat counterpart would not be projected as prime ministerial candidate.
Asked if the BJP would “sacrifice” Modi as the prime ministerial candidate to get more allies to the NDA, “We are interested in gaining, not sacrificing.”
On possibility of a “Third Front” emerging as a stronger force than the UPA or the NDA in the Lok Sabha polls, he said the Third Front was a failed idea.
It had been experimented several times in the past and on each occasion, it has been “a few months wonder.”
Jaitley expressed confidence that the party would return to power in Karnataka claiming that the BJP has emerged as a cleaner, cohesive and powerful party in the state.