M A I N   N E W S

After Nitish, Sena pressures BJP on PM candidate
Shiv Kumar/TNS

Patnaik rules out tie-up with BJP Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Monday ruled out any tie-up between his party BJD and BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, asserting that Third Front is a "very healthy" option. There is no question of any alliance with the BJP, he told reporters in New Delhi. Asked whether there were any chances of revival of the Third Front, Patnaik said, "I think the Third Front is a very healthy option. But it is still early days."

Mumbai, April 15
The Shiv Sena has joined Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in demanding that the National Democratic Alliance’s candidate for the post of Prime Minister be decided by all the constituent parties.

“All the alliance partners of the NDA must be consulted. The candidate is not just from any particular party but of the NDA as a whole,” Shiv Sena spokesman Rahul Narvekar said here on Sunday night.

Narvekar’s remarks came hours after Nitish Kumar demanded that the BJP nominate a secular leader acceptable to everyone, seen as a thinly veiled opposition to the candidature of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Three days ago Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray said here that the BJP had to announce its choice for the post of Prime Minister in advance before expecting the support of its allies.

Just weeks before his demise, Shiv Sena supremo and Uddhav’s father Bal Thackeray had expressed his support for BJP leader Sushma Swaraj for the top job. “She is the only deserving person in the party who is suited for the post of Prime Minister,” Bal Thackeray had said.