Modi snubs media for projecting him as PM candidate

Ahmedabad, Dec 28:Snubbing the media for projecting him as the future prime ministerial candidate, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thrusday urged it not to bring his name in the list of probable candidates for the post and 'spoil' him. In a brief interaction with the sources at his office here, Mr Modi said in the past, the names of Jyoti Basu, Sharad Pawar and N Chandrababu Naidu were pitched by the media as the possible prime ministerial candidate and now it is projecting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati as the future prime minister.

''I urge all my friends from media, not to spoil me and allow me to serve Gujarat and stop the campaign of bringing a new name in every three months as PM,'' he said. Asked whether there was any tension between him and BJP chief Rajnath Singh, Mr Modi said ''I urge media not to spoil BJP by floating the imaginary stories with their own thoughts and quoting them as reliable sources.'' ''We are all working together along with Mr Singh under the guidance of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to make Lal Krishna Advani as the prime minister in next elections,'' observed the high profile leader.

Asked about his next target, Mr Modi said ''I wish that Gujarat should achieve the growth rate of 11.2 per cent, which is the highest in Asia and it should be achieved in next five year plan.'' UNI