Amid reports that L K Advani is standing in the way of Narendra Modi being named as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today pitched for the Gujarat Chief Minister and said Advani failed to gauge public mood.

"Advaniji has failed to gauge the public mood," Sushil Kumar Modi said in his Twitter message.

"Advaniji himself declared Atalji as PM candidate now also he could have done the same for Namo (Narendra Modi)," he said in his tweet.

Later, talking to mediapersons, the senior Bihar BJP leader said it seems that Advani did not realise that public mood was in favour of Narendra Modi.

The country' mood was to see Narendra Modi against Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 Parliamentary elections, he said.

Sushil Modi's pitch for Narendra Modi has surprised many. Till the time BJP was in the NDA with the JD(U) honouring wishes of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Sushil Modi was never heard talking about Narendra Modi.

But, the scenario changed after JD(U) parted company with BJP and Sushil Modi and 10 other party ministers were sacked from Cabinet by Nitish Kumar on June 16. With BJP becoming main opposition party in Bihar, Sushil Modi and his party has been aggressive against Nitish Kumar and raking up name of Narendra Modi.

A day before the recent party Parliamentary Board meeting, a state executive committee meeting had passed a resolution demanding naming Narendra Modi as PM nominee. The resolution from the state unit, however, attracted snub from BJP president Rajnath Singh.