'Will decide on PM candidate after talks are held': Rajnath Singh

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh, who is making sincere efforts to bring all senior leaders on board for officially naming Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, on Thursday said a decision in this regard will be taken after discussions and consultations.

"We will decide after the talks are held," he told media here, when asked as to when the BJP would come out with the name of its prime ministerial candidate.

Despite party stalwart L.K. Advani appearing to be a stumbling block for the saffron outfit in finalising the name of Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, the BJP has so far maintained that all is well within the party.

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said that his party would very soon its candidate for the coveted post.

"All is well, there is no problem. The party will announce its decision soon," he said.

Several attempts have been made by senior leaders to convince Advani, who had resigned from all party posts when Modi was appointed the election campaign committee chief in Goa earlier this year.

The BJP President even met the stalwart at the latter's residence here yesterday, but failed to convince him.

According to certain media reports, Advani has reportedly told Rajnath Singh that fronting Modi as the party's candidate for Prime Minister will be a 'disaster' and will 'destroy the BJP's prospects' in the general elections next year.

Other than Advani, senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Murli Manohar Joshi are also opposed to announcing Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate before the forthcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the BJP's ideological mentor, is of the view that any delay in announcing Modi's candidature will not do any good to the party's prospects in the general elections.