Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday took a jibe at Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray -- for his remarks that Sushma Swaraj is the "only deserving" prime ministerial candidate in the Bharatiya Janata Party -- saying it is premature to say anything at this stage.
"It is premature to say who is going to be our next prime minister," Badal, whose party SAD is a key ally in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, told a press conference in village Dugaal in Patiala district.
"How many seats a party will get will be known later," said the Punjab chief minister when asked to comment on Thackeray's remarks.
Reacting to a move by some parties to form a Third Front before the next Lok Sabha elections, Badal termed the exercise as "opportunistic".
He made it clear that the SAD is with the BJP and "any decision taken by them will be binding on all of us".
On Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh's demand to declare a financial emergency in the state, Badal said the state has witnessed unprecedented development during the SAD-BJP regime, which the Opposition is not able to accept.
Badal was in Patiala to attend the 'bhog' ceremony of Satwant Singh Kaleka, who was killed in the shooting incident at Oak Creek gurudwara in Wisconsin in the United States on August 5.