Friday, November 25 2005 18:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain today (Nov 25, 2005) dismissed as 'false' media reports that he was one of the contenders for the post of deputy Chief Minister in Bihar and asserted that he disapproved of anybody making a claim to power on the basis of one's religion.

"I was never in the race of deputy Chief Minister," Hussain clarified while talking to sources before leaving for New Delhi.

Showering praise on State Party President Sushil Kumar Modi, who was made deputy Chief Minister yesterday (Nov 24, 2005), Hussain said given his vast experience and prolonged fight against the misrule and corruption of the erstwhile Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) regime, Modi deserved the post.

"Modi was appointed deputy Chief Minister because of his prolonged history of struggle, commitment and dedication to the party and not for any other reason," he said.

Hussain reiterated that he had always opposed Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) President Ram Vilas Paswan's stand on making a Muslim Chief Minister and said that he will continue to oppose making anybody CM or deputy CM on the basis of caste and religion.

Hussain, who was one of the star-campaigners of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said his sole objective was to ensure the victory of the alliance in the elections and claimed he had succeeded, to a great extent, in breaking the Muslim-Yadav equation of the RJD.

He said the LJP had to bite the dust in the elections due to Paswan's obduracy over making a Muslim Chief Minister.