I am 'more qualified' to be PM, says Nitish

Kumar said JD(U) was small and modest and did not make tall claims, but believed in working sincerely for people

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today made his Prime Ministerial ambitions known, saying he is more qualified and experienced than those "roaming around" for the top job.

"I am more qualified than those roaming around for the post of Prime Ministership," Kumar said in his 'sankalp yatra' held here to demand special category status for Bihar.

Without naming either the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi or Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, he said "While one does not have the experience of Parliament another has no experience of running a state...I have both experiences. Am I less qualified than them?"

Asked categorically if he was a Prime Ministerial candidate, Kumar said his party JD(U) was small and modest and did not make tall claims, but believed in working sincerely for the people.

Told that senior leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Jayalithaa, whose parties SP and AIADMK were part of the Third Front, had hinted of being in the race for the PM's post, he shot back "What's wrong in this? Every party has its strategy to maximise support among people.

Kumar also claimed that all 'sponsored' poll surveys would be proved wrong ultimately and neither BJP nor Congress would come to power.

"In fact the new grouping which you call Third Front will be the First Front," he said.

"The non-Congress and non-BJP parties will have the largest numbers after the polls," he said, referring to the Federal Front of 11 non-Congress and non-BJP parties for which he has been a prime mover.

He categorically ruled out siding either with Congress or BJP after the polls.

In an apparent dig at his Gujarat counterpart, he said, "2002 riots had led to the demise of NDA in 2004 general elections."

Kumar whose hostility towards the BJP PM pick is no secret broke away from NDA after 17 years over elevation of Narendra Modi. Asked if there was any effort at tie up between JD(U) and Congress till it allied with RJD, he answered in the negative.
"Actually it was tactics of Congress to create pressure on Lalu Prasad and they successfully won one additional seat from RJD while stitching up an alliance," Kumar said.

On LJP President Ramvilas Paswan joining hands with NDA, he reiterated that there could be no other leader who could take such a sharp turn.

On his rival Lalu Prasad accusing him of breaking up his RJD, he said, "Actually it's breaking up itself and there is no need to break it."

He said, "It is the habit of Prasad of cursing me for everything that goes wrong either for him personally or his party. These are important pages of his invisible autobiography."