Nitish for announcement of PM candidate before elections

Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday supported the view that the nominee for the PM post should be announced before elections and the candidate should be chosen in a meeting of the NDA.

Patna: Amid intense debate over the Prime Ministerial candidate from NDA, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday supported the view that the nominee for the top post should be announced before elections and the candidate should be chosen in a meeting of the NDA.

"Yes, it should be done," he told reporters in reply to a question whether name of the candidate for the PM should be announced before polls. He was talking to mediapersons emerging from "Janata Ke Darbar me mukhya mantri". Kumar, however, refuted that he had ever said that the announcement of the name should be done at least a year before the elections. "I have never spoken about time for announcement of PM nominee," Kumar, senior leader of JD(U), a coalition partner of BJP, said. Kumar supported the opinion of JD(U) President Sharad Yadav that the NDA`s choice for PM post should be decided in the meeting of the opposition coalition. The CM advised the media not to go overboard over the issue of PM candidate and leave the job to the politicians. "The issue should not be repeated daily...The right of when and what (over selection of candidate) should be left to politicians like us," he added. The overdose of news over PM`s post was creating "confusion," he said adding it should not be a matter of daily discussion. PTI