Mumbai | Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday sought the support of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray for NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan in the next month's vice-presidential elections.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said apart from CM Fadnavis, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also called Thackeray, urging him to extend support to the NDA pick.
The NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) are part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra along with the Congress. The three parties are constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc at the national level.
The ruling NDA has fielded Maharashtra Governor Radhakrishnan as its vice-presidential candidate, while former Supreme Court judge B Sudarshan Reddy is the opposition alliance's pick for the post. The election to the country's second highest constitutional office is scheduled on September 9.
During his telephonic conversations with Pawar and Thackeray, Fadnavis highlighted that Radhakrishnan is a registered voter from Maharashtra, and sought their support for his candidature in the upcoming vice-presidential election, sources said.
The CM urged both the leaders to consider Radhakrishnan's state connection and extend their support, they said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) has nine and NCP (SP) 10 Lok Sabha MPs, while both the parties have two members each in the Rajya Sabha.
The electoral college for the vice-presidential elections comprises members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Nominated members of the Upper House of Parliament are also eligible to cast their votes.
The effective strength of the electoral college is 781 and the majority mark is 391.
Talking to reporters in New Delhi earlier in the day, Raut, a Rajya Sabha member of the Sena (UBT), said, "Rajnath (Singh) and Devendra Fadnavis called up Uddhav Thackeray and they requested for voting (in favour of Radhakrishnan). They must have done it (calls) to others as well. It's their job."
He, however, did not elaborate when the calls were made to Thackeray.
Radhakrishnan, a seasoned BJP leader from Tamil Nadu with an RSS background, filed his nomination papers as the NDA's vice-presidential candidate on Wednesday, while INDIA bloc candidate Reddy did so on Thursday.
The move to pick Reddy as a joint candidate of the Opposition has made the vice-presidential election a South versus South contest.
