Nitish says India should have a secular PM

Political observers see this as a bid to end Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's chances of ever getting into that race.

NEW DELHI: Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar has said that the prime ministerial candidate should be someone who has faith in democratic values and is seen to be secular.

Political observers see this as a bid to end Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's chances of ever getting into that race. Moreover, Nitish Kumar has also asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to name a prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 elections who has secular credentials.
While not naming the Gujarat chief minister, Nitish Kumar indicated that if Modi was projected as the prime ministerial candidate, then there was a question mark over whether his party's alliance with the BJP in Bihar would continue.

"I have cordial relations with Bihar BJP. If external forces are bent on spoiling this relationship, I cannot help it," he told in an interview to a business daily.

The Bihar chief minister said, "The leader of the coalition should have secular credentials and a liberal frame of mind. It should be someone who has absolute faith in democratic values."

Nitish, however, denied that he himself had any prime ministerial aspirations and added that the prime minister should be from a bigger party that has national interest and acceptance.

Many see this as a move to please and maintain good ties with the Congress as he wants to keep his options open for the 2014 general elections.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid backed Nitish's statement saying that only a secular person should be the prime minister of India but asked why Nitish Kumar has fears that the prime minister will not be secular.

"Nitish Kumar's statement is a welcome thing. We are a secular country and our prime minister has to be a secular," Khurshid said.

"Whosoever becomes the prime minister, they are responsible for the whole nation. They can't be biased," he added.

The relationship between Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar has never seen bright days. In 2005 and 2010, when Kumar came to power in Bihar, Modi was persuaded not to campaign in the state.

Modi had also recently hit out at Nitish Kumar stating that 'casteism' is slowing down growth in Bihar, to which Kumar reacted saying people should look at their own state first.