Mumbai | NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Friday said a chief minister was arrested inside Raj Bhavan when NDA's vice presidential nominee C P Radhakrishnan was the governor of Jharkhand, and asked what dignity he would bring to India's second-highest constitutional post.
“I respect the chair of the governor. But I cannot forget that when he was the governor of Jharkhand, the chief minister of that state, who comes from a tribal community, was arrested inside the Raj Bhavan despite his request not to do so," he said, referring to the arrest of Hemant Soren last year.
“This shows what his views are about institutions and maintaining their dignity. And now such a person has been made a candidate for vice president,” Pawar said after meeting the Opposition's VP pick B Sudarshan Reddy at his Mumbai residence.
Radhakrishnan, nominated by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is currently the governor of Maharashtra.
Pawar said the entire nation is interested in the VP election, particularly as the previous vice president resigned before completing his term, raising “unanswered questions”.
“As a senior parliamentarian, I too do not know the reasons. The stature and dignity of the post must be maintained by both the government and the Opposition. That is why this election becomes so crucial,” Pawar said.
Reddy, meanwhile, rejected suggestions that the contest was a “South versus South” fight, given both candidates hail from southern states.
“It is most inappropriate to portray it in such a way. This is a contest between two individuals. The country is one, the nation is one,” he asserted.
Pawar said the Opposition was unanimous in backing Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge.
“The decisions he made during his tenure as a judge were in defence of the rights of the common man. Hence, such a person coming forward to contest this election is a matter of pride for us. Success or failure is not important, what matters is upholding the dignity of the chair,” he said.
Reddy told reporters that he came to seek the blessings of a “statesman who built modern Maharashtra”. He described Pawar as a personality whose imprint is visible in every major political, social and economic development of the last five decades.
“I do not belong to any political party and do not intend to join one. Perhaps because of this, all Opposition parties have chosen me as their candidate. I shall be grateful if every party and every MP considers my candidature on merit. I will be writing to all members of Parliament irrespective of party affiliation,” Reddy said.
Pawar said he had received calls from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking support for the NDA candidate. “The CM is consistently pressing one point – that the candidate is Maharashtra's governor, hence all should vote for him. But that is not an issue for us,” he said.
On the absence of former VP Jagdeep Dhankhar from public life, Pawar said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had already written a letter seeking clarity on his whereabouts. “We are still waiting for a reply,” he said.
The vice-presidential poll, necessitated by the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar recently, has been described by the opposition as an ideological battle, even as the numbers are stacked in favour of the National Democratic Alliance
