I am not in the race to PM candidate: BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu

Bhopal: Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu clarified here on January 31 that he was not in the race for the Prime Ministerial post. "Yesterday I was in Panjim where at a press conference I said that there were many leaders in the BJP who were capable of becoming Prime Minister," Naidu told reporters.

Naidu said that at the press conference he had stated that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was already a national leader who had the capabilities to become the PM. "I have said it many times, that I am not in the race for prime-ministership," he reiterated responding to questions on a section of media reporting that he too was in the PM run.

He however said that the BJP had not taken any decision on the issue of the Prime Ministerial candidate till now and added that a final word on the matter would be taken at an appropriate time ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

He however said that the BJP had not taken any decision on the issue of the Prime Ministerial candidate till now.

The senior BJP leader said that he, LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley had all at some time of the other said that Modi had in him, all the qualities for the top post. Naidu said that unlike Congress, which was a "family concern", the BJP was a democratic party where all decisions were taken after consultations among its leaders. He said that the matter of the NDA's Prime Ministerial candidate would also be discussed first within the BJP leaders and then with its allies.

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