Modi as PM candidate hypothetical: Nitish Kumar

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Patna, January 4:: Minister and LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan, who has accused him of trying to divide Dalits by forming this panel, said.

Kumar also spoke at length about JD(U)'s relations with the saffron party, his equations with NDA convenor George Fernandes and Congress' future in the next general elections.

"JD(U) has very old ties with BJP in Bihar and Jharkhand where we have fought six Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in alliance, but electorally speaking, apart from these two states we are together only in Uttar Pradesh and at the national level and that arrangement will continue," he said.

Predicting a "bleak future" for the Congress in the next Lok Sabha elections, Kumar spoke of Congress' debacles in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat and Himachal Assembly polls last year.

"These do not augur well for the party," he said.

Asked about the status of senior leader and NDA convenor George Fernandes who said there would be "no rapprochement with Nitish or Sharad Yadav", Kumar sought to downplay the differences.

"Fernandes is our tallest and most respected leader. We don't mind what he says," he said.

On whether the party will give him a ticket to contest the next Lok Sabha polls from Muzaffarpur, Kumar avoided a direct reply. "Commenting on what he says at his ripe old age is inappropriate. George saheb is our guardian and in keeping with the Indian tradition, we should not speak against those elder to us," he added.

Asked about Lalu's accusation that he was deliberately delaying acquisition of land for railway projects in the state, Kumar said, "there is no laxity on my part in land acquisition for the railway projects and I will be happier than him if these are executed as most were launched during my tenure."

Asked about his ongoing spat with Prasad with both accusing each other of violation of the spirit of federalism, Kumar said, "I raised this issue at the NDA meeting as frequent and unnecessary criticism of a state regime is not in the interest of good Centre-State relations."

"The Union Ministers need to be more cautious about what they speak. I don't use state government fora to criticise the Centre, but people like Lalu Prasad should also not use railway programmes to criticise us," he said.