Nitish Defends Advani
Patna: Dec. 11, 2007
Just hours after the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its decision to field Lal Krishna Advani as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar came out in Advani's support saying besides Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Deputy Prime Minister was the most qualified and senior leader in the NDA and his endorsement by the BJP was not unexpected.
"It is only natural to project Advani as the Prime Ministerial candidate since besides Vajpayee, he is the senior-most leader in the NDA and also the most qualified," Kumar said adding that it was an internal issue of the BJP and as long as the minimum common agenda between the BJP and the Janata Dal (U) were met, he would have no objection to the name of Advani as the next Prime Minister of India.
The Chief Minister also came to the moral support of Advani saying he had not only been misunderstood by his political opponents but also by many in his own party.
"It were some of the members of his own party who derided him on his comment on Pakistan's first Prime Minister Muhammed Ali Jinnah during his last trip to Pakistan. That was totally uncalled for as his statements were twisted and turned by the media and some BJP leaders for short political gains," Kumar said.
The CM denied having any negative effect on his party due to its political marriage with the BJP in Bihar.
"The JD-U is committed to deliver justice to the minorities in Bihar and the BJP is very much with us in attaining this goal," said the Chief Minister.
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