PM candidate not discussed in BJP-RSS Coordination meet

The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on Monday said leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sangh outfits had discussed the party's stance regarding the present economic crisis, and added that the BJP's prime ministerial candidate was not discussed in their coordination meeting.

"We discussed on certain issues in this two-day meet. Murli Manohar Joshi discussed BJP's point of view regarding the present economic crisis and the steps the party should take in the future. All the members presented their opinion on this issue," RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya told media here today.

"There was no discussion on the party's Prime Ministerial candidate, and as I have mentioned before, we were not going to discuss this in the meeting," he added.

BJP is likely to announce Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate by next week possibly.

According to reports, BJP President Rajnath Singh, who held back the announcement in the hope of achieving unanimity on Modi, has decided to go ahead despite continuing reservations from some senior leaders like L.K.Advani and Sushma Swaraj.

Modi, who is considered by many to be the BJP's face for the next general elections, had earlier on September 5 said that his main priority is to serve the people of Gujarat till 2017.

BJP's Bihar unit on August 17 passed a unanimous resolution urging the party's parliamentary board to announce Modi as its PM candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP has, however, not officially endorsed his candidature yet.