Narendra Modi is no challenge for Congress, says Shinde

New Delhi  :  BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi poses no challenge for the Congress, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Monday, a day after Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the Gujarat chief minister was a “challenger” to his party.

Talking to the media, Shinde said the Congress was a very big party and had been in existence for more than a century. “Narendra Modi is no challenge for the Congress. This is my and my party’s view.”

Shinde refused to comment on Chidambaram’s remarks but emphasised that the Congress does not see a challenge from Modi.

Shinde said people had given mandate to the Congress and its partners, first in 2004 and then in 2009.

“People gave us a mandate. We are in power for the past 10 years,” he said.