Mumbai : In more trouble for the BJP, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday demanded that the decision on NDA’s prime ministerial candidate must be taken soon.

The editorial in party mouthpiece Saamna asked the BJP top brass to clear its stand on the issue. Noting that a group within the BJP has been advancing the name of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Sena stressed that Modi may emerge as BJP’s PM candidate but the final call will be taken by the NDA. The Uddhav Thackeray led party also warned the BJP against taking its support for granted.

In an apparent reference to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the editorial further says that while naming the PM candidate may get the BJP five to 10 extra seats, some old allies will leave costing the NDA as many as 25 seats.

Putting pressure on the BJP, the Sena said that an NDA meeting should be called soon to decide on the matter.

Clearly, the Shiv Sena is not too enthusiastic about the Gujarat CM being projected as the NDA’s PM face. Earlier, party chief Uddhav Thackeray was quoted as saying: “We aren’t sure whether we will back Modi. When Balasaheb (Thackeray) had voiced his support for Sushma Swaraj, Modi was not in the race. The NDA should decide on someone.”

Shiv Sena came out in the open over the issue days after a veiled threat by Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar against projecting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate.

JD(U) later gave an eight-month deadline to the BJP to declare its prime ministerial candidate having “secular credibility beyond doubt” for the next general election.