Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav has thought of a novel plan to prevent Atal Bihari Vajpayee from retaining his position as prime minister.
The leader from Bihar favours a 100metre race among the contestants for the post. "Whoever completes a round of Parliament House in the quickest time should be chosen as the prime minister," he told reporters, in a lighter vein, at Patna airport on Monday before leaving for Delhi.
While the secular front that the opposition is trying to cobble up has several contenders for the post of prime minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance has only one, he pointed out.
He questioned the BJP's decision to field Vajpayee saying the prime minister is not fit for another term in office. Besides, the country has suffered during Vajpayee's rule - a number of scams had been exposed and the worst ever killing of Muslims took place in Gujarat during the last five years, he said.
He fails to understand why the BJP is projecting a leader for the post of prime minister when there is no such tradition in country. "People vote a particular party to power and subsequently a leader emerges for the top post," he said.
He suggested that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Lok Jan Shakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan could take on the mantle were the secular front to win the Lok Sabha elections but ruled himself out of the reckoning. "I am not in the race for the top post this time but will become prime minister one day," he said.