JD(U) will fight Gujarat polls on its own: Sharad Yadav

New Delhi, Sept 10: The Janata Dal (United) will fight the forthcoming Assembly polls in

on its own, said the party's chairperson Sharad Yadav.

He told reporters here that JD(U) is not an ally of the ruling BJP in Gujarat though both parties are part of the National Democratic Alliance.

Referring to their coalition partner at the Centre, he said, "We have an alliance in Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka. We earlier had an alliance in Uttar Pradesh. We never had an alliance in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat."

As for the JD(U)'s views on who should be the NDA's prime ministerial candidate in 2014, Sharad Yadav said that the BJP will take the final decision on that sometime before the next general elections.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had yesterday suggested that BJP's Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, would be the ideal choice.

"At present, there is only one person who is intelligent, brilliant - Sushma Swaraj. I have said this many times...She would be a great choice for PM's post. She is deserving, an intelligent woman. She will work very well," Thackeray told his party's mouthpiece Saamana.

Incidentally, Sushma Swaraj had met him some days ago to discuss the joint strategy of their two parties on the Coalgate issue.

Today, Sharad Yadav refused to be drawn into the debate. "Bal Thackeray is a senior leader and has his own viewpoints. Several others gave their opinion on the prime ministerial candidate prior to him. The Lok Sabha polls are quite far now and the elections are not going to take place before that," he said.

Earlier Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, had made it clear that he will not back his counterpart Narendra Modi in the event of BJP nominating him as their prime ministerial candidate. Nevertheless, the Bihar CM is reportedly planning to seek votes for JD(U) candidates in Gujarat.

OneIndia News