Decision on PM pick after Lok Sabha polls: JD(U) ahead of opposition meeting

PATNA: Ahead of the crucial non-BJP parties' meeting scheduled to be held here on June 23, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh Sunday said Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was not in the race for the country's top job and that the decision on the PM candidate would be taken after the Lok Sabha elections.
"Nitish Kumarji is not a PM candidate. He has moved ahead to make the country free from BJP for which he is trying to unite the opposition forces," Singh said and rebuffed overenthusiastic party supporters shouting 'Nitish for PM' slogans. "When the country becomes 'BJP-mukt' after elections, we will sit here again and decide who will be the PM. But whosoever gets the chance, he will restore democracy," he said.
Singh said 18 non-BJP parties would participate in the June 23 meeting. He said J&K's National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, too, have confirmed their participation. "We will sit and chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls. CM is busy uniting the opposition," he said.