Opp should declare their PM candidate : Sushil Modi

Senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi Friday dared the opposition parties to name their prime ministerial candidate before the Lok Sabha election and not after the results are declared.

The electoral battle will be interesting if there is a face from the opposition for the PMs post as it would put to rest the confusion among the people over it, said Sushil Modi, who is also the Bihar deputy chief minister.

People (opposition leaders) who are opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP should first decide their prime ministerial candidate and declare the name. I request the UPA leaders to decide the name of PM candidate so that confusion among the people ends, he said.

"Opposition parties are saying that the issue (PM face) will be decided after the polls results ... It is difficult for them (opposition) to decide on any particular individual given the large number of contenders for PMs post among opposition parties both within and outside the UPA," he said.

Claiming that no one is ready to accept Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate, Modi said that there are "umpteen leaders" in the opposition who wish to be in the post.

BSP supremo Mayawati had yesterday given an indication of her being a possible contender for the prime ministership, while the West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee wants to weaken the Congress so that she can win a large number of Lok Sabha seats from her state to place her claim post-poll, he said.

Even RJD chief Lalu Prasad used to harbour the desire to become the prime, said Modi, who had been his bitter critic.

Asserting that there is a wave in favour of Narendra Modi across the country, the senior party leader expressed confidence that he would return to power on the basis of the development work in the past five years.