Opposition should reveal its PM candidate, says Rajnath Singh

Expressing confidence that the BJP will win more seats that it did in 2014, senior party leader Rajnath Singh today said a two-thirds majority for the NDA cannot be ruled out.

"I have reached a conclusion that BJP will win more seats in Lok Sabha polls than it did in 2014. Two-thirds majority for NDA also cannot be ruled out. The hope people had from the prime minister in the 2014 elections has turned into confidence this time," Mr Singh said at a press conference in the BJP headquarters.

"Last time, it was Modiji versus Sonia Gandhi/Manmohan Singh. This time it is Modiji versus who? It is unknown. The opposition should not keep people in dark, should reveal its PM candidate," he said.

He also asked the Congress to respond to Mani Shankar Aiyar justifying his 2017 "neech aadmi" remark about the prime minister.

"Congress should give its response to Mani Shankar Aiyar's comment that his claim about Modi was correct," he said.

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar in an article justifying the "Neech" slur he had used for PM Modi, for which he was suspended by his party two years ago.

The opinion piece, published in the Rising Kashmir and reproduced by The Print, has the Congress leader referring to Jawaharlal Nehru's education and attacking PM Modi for "stunningly illiterate claims", most recently his comment that "clouds would help Indian jets escape Pakistani radars" during the Balakot air strike.

-PTI