BJP asks JD(U) and Shiv Sena to review decision on prez poll

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BJP on Friday appealed to JD(U) 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 here.

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.

He has also asked BJP to name the candidate well before the 2014 general elections to ensure clarity on the issue.