Allies JD(U) and Shiv Sena may be piling pressure on BJP to declare its prime ministerial candidate to checkmate Narendra Modi's nomination but the saffron party president Rajnath Singh is in no great hurry to oblige.
However, he does not want a break in the alliance with the JD(U) and would like to sort out issues with it.
While there is a growing clamour in BJP for declaring Modi as party's prime ministerial candidate, Singh, who like many other leaders, has been describing the Gujarat Chief Minister as the party's most popular leader, prefers to keep the cards close to his chest on the leadership issue.
"NDA will meet at an appropriate time to decide on that (PM candidate)," Singh told PTI in an interview when asked about the year-end deadline set by JD(U) for declaring BJP's PM choice.
Singh was also cautious answering a question on some voices favouring veteran leader L K Advani as the Prime Ministerial candidate.
Singh said any decision on whom to project or whether to project anybody at all will be taken by the party's Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making body.
He then went on to add, "In our party there is no race and nobody makes a claim either for Chief Minister or for Prime Minister."
JD(U) has been strongly opposed to Modi's projection as PM candidate and in apparent attempts to sabotage this, it had been pressing NDA to declare its Prime Ministerial candidate by December, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls expected around May next year.
