New Delhi: Even as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi chose to skip the National Executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), talks about the party's prime ministerial candidate for the next elections gained momentum on Friday.
While Gujarat BJP in-charge Balbir Punj said that Modi was the best prime ministerial candidate, party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said that there were several strong PM candidates in the party.
Further, taking a dig at the Congress, Prasad said that the BJP was not dependent on "one yuvraj".
However, other party leaders refrained from taking any stand on the issue.
When asked about Modi skipping the meeting, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, said that she was unaware of the reason.
"I have no information about this. I have come to know about this through the media. I will see what the matter is and then comment on it during lunch," said Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi said that the question of Modi skipping the meet should be put to the Gujarat Chief Minister himself.
"Ask Modiji about this. I have no information about anyone attending the meeting or skipping the meeting," said Joshi.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha maintained a diplomatic stand on the issue of the PM candidate of the party.
"Advani is a very capable leader, Modi is a capable leader also. The party will have to take a decision on the candidate for prime minister," said Sinha.
Modi has chosen to skip the meeting as he is reportedly miffed with veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani after he announced that his Rath Yatra would start from Sitabdiara, the birthplace of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, in Saran district of Bihar, instead of Gujarat.
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