New Delhi:

Former Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Shourie has said that Gujarat Chief Minister and the party's campaign committee chief Narendra Modi is the party's Prime Ministerial candidate. Speaking to CNN-IBN's Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, Shourie called Modi's rivals 'stateless leaders from Delhi'.

Here's an excerpt from the interview:

Karan Thapar: What would you say to people who say he (Modi) is divisive, he frightens minority, he will rupture India's communal harmony?

Arun Shourie: At the moment what the country wants is not divisive but decisive leadership and he has certainly demonstrated that.

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Karan Thapar: If he becomes BJP's PM candidate which looks quite likely...

Arun Shourie: He is BJP's PM candidate.

Karan Thapar: Will he unite the party behind him or could he fracture the top leadership like Sushma Swaraj's, LK Advani's?

Arun Shourie: I will not speak about stateless leaders in Delhi.

Karan Thapar: Stateless leaders in Delhi?

Arun Shourie: Yes, that's Gyani Ji's description. He said 'India mein do tarah ke leaders hain, state leaders like Kamraj, SK Patil or dooje stateless leaders VP Singh'. (There are two kinds of leaders in India - state leaders like Kamraj, SK Patil and the second kind are stateless leaders like VP Singh)

Karan Thapar: So you are comparing Sushma and Advani to VP Singh?

Arun Shourie: I am not comparing them to anybody in Delhi. I'm saying that Modi has united the party at the grassroot level as far as I can see. I am not in touch with the party, but if that is the party of workers and volunteers are all for him, I am sure that people in Delhi will now reconcile with him.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com