BJP asks JD(U), Shiv Sena to review decision on Prez poll

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday appealed to Janata Dal (United) and Shiv Sena to review their decision to support the UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the election for the top post and asked the two parties to back NDA's candidate P A  Sangma instead.

"We appeal to JD(U) and Shiv Sena to review their decision to support Mukherjee in the presidential poll and instead back NDA nominee P A Sangma in the election for the top constitutional post," BJP national spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.

Apparently seeking to mollify JD(U)'s concerns about BJP's prospective prime ministerial candidate, he said that the main opposition party will take a decision on its PM candidate at an appropriate time.

"The general elections are too far away," Prasad said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in an apparent reference to his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi, has said NDA's prime ministerial candidate for the next general elections should be a secular person with wider acceptability.