Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav on Sunday said the appointment of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as campaign committee chief of the BJP was an ‘internal matter’ of the party.
Indicating that his party was still opposed to Modi as prime ministerial candidate, Yadav, who is also the ‘convenor’ of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) said the NDA prime ministerial candidate would be decided in consultation with all parties who are part of the alliance. “He (Modi) has not become NDA’s campaign committee chairman,” Yadav told agencies.
NDA functioned for 17 years according to its national agenda and “whoever becomes the PM candidate has to accept that national agenda”, he emphasised, adding that NDA’s PM candidate will be decided by the alliance after BJP declares its candidate.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, on the other hand, hailed the elevation, describing it as “a master-stroke and a knockout punch against a staggering UPA government and Congress party”. The Shiv Sena too, as expected, was enthused by Modi’s elevation. “We welcome the appointment of Narendra Modi... We have expressed our good wishes to Modi,” Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told PTI.
He said party president Uddhav Thackeray, who is abroad, called up Modi and congratulated him.