After JD(U), Shiv Sena wants BJP to name PM candidate

Mumbai, April 17: Problems seem not to end for the

-led

at the moment. As the saffron party locks horns with one of its key allies JD(U) over the issue of prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha polls, another ally, the Maharashtra-based

has also raised the pitch over the same issue and asked the BJP to declare the alliance's PM candidate immediately.

While the JD(U) has expressed reservation over the choice of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the PM candidate as it favours a 'secular' candidate, the Sena has favoured Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj as the prime ministerial candidate. Late Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray had preferred Swaraj for the top post.

It is believed that Modi's closeness with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray is the reason why the Shiv Sena expressed its unwillingness to endorse the Gujarat chief minister as the NDA's PM candidate for the next polls.

Earlier, a massive war of words broke out between the BJP and the JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar following the PM candidate issue with each side trading charges over the Godhra carnage and the subsequent riots in Gujarat in 2002.

OneIndia News