Patna, June 27: The leaders of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) today agreed that the BJP, being the largest constituent of the alliance, was entitled to have its chief ministerial candidate.

BJP state unit president Mangal Pandey announced this during the joint conference in the presence of the leaders of its allies, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP). The announcement came after a controversy erupted in the NDA over the issue of chief ministerial candidate and seat-sharing.

Last week, RLSP had passed a resolution in its executive committee meet at Vaishali that Upendra Kushwaha's name be projected as the NDA's chief ministerial candidate. The party had even allotted the seat, asking the BJP to stick to 102 seats, as they had got in alliance with JDU, 74 for the LJP and 67 for the RLSP.

But the NDA leaders today agreed when Pandey made it official today.

In the presence of RLSP state unit president Arun Kumar and LJP state president Pashupati Paras at the BJP office, Pandey said: "The decision of the chief ministerial candidate would be decided in the NDA meeting. However, as far as the party is concerned, it is obvious that the largest party would project its chief minister face. The BJP is the biggest party in the alliance. So the chief ministerial candidate would be surely from the BJP."

Kushwaha had said there was confusion among the BJP leaders regarding the name of the chief ministerial candidate and his party had just given the solution by giving a proposal to the NDA.

LJP chief and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan had announced neither him nor anyone from his party would be the chief ministerial candidate and he would go with the decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Paswan's younger brother, Paras, seconded him today by saying: "The Assembly elections would be contested in the name of Narendra Modi, he is the only face of the NDA."

After listening to the tone of both the BJP and the LJP leaders, Arun said: "We had just given the proposal and it is up to the NDA to decide."