Thaindian News

Kolkata, May 21 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh Monday said the Congress-led UPA alliance should take the lead in attempting political consensus on a presidential candidate.

“We believe that Congress-led UPA government should place such a candidate for the president’s post around whom there can be a political consensus among all the parties. The post of president should never be put under controversy. It is the highest constitutional post in the country.

“It is the duty of every political party and citizen of the country to maintain the dignity of this post,” said Singh who was in the city to release a one year evaluation report of the Trinamool Congress-led state government.

Asked whether BJP had its own candidate, he said: “First let Congress place a name, then we will discuss it.”

Singh, while addressing a rally in Kolkata, refered to a survey done by a national news channel which had stated that BJP was way ahead of Congress in terms of popularity. He said the survey clearly proved the declining popularity of the Congress.

Asked to comment on the same survey report which stated Narendra Modi was the most viable candidate for the post of prime minister, Singh said, “Everything is decided by the central parliamentary board of our party. There is no individual decision in the party. Nobody has ever placed his nomination for the post of prime minister or chief minister and there is neither any rat race in our party.”

The veteran BJP leader also criticised the way the Trinamool Congress is running the state government.

“We all know that one year is not enough to evaluate a government. But from one year we can certainly sense whether a government can really work for the development of the state. But it is very sad to say that the new government has failed the people of the state,” Singh said.