MUMBAI: Maharashtra's Opposition parties NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) have rejected the BJP’s proposal to support NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan in the vice president elections on September 9.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, tasked with reaching out to regional opposition parties, said he had spoken to Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray to seek support.
“Vice President candidate CP Radhakrishnan was the governor of Maharashtra, and he is also a voter of Mumbai, so it is a pride for each Maharashtrian to have him in the vice president election,” Fadnavis said.
“I called both Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray and conveyed the message and feeling. Pawar told me that the INDIA bloc has its candidate, so his party is unable to support, while Uddhav told me that he will consult with his party leaders and inform me. We are positive,” he added.
Pawar later confirmed the phone call but reiterated his opposition.
“CP Radhakrishnan does not belong to our ideology; therefore, there is no question of supporting him,” he said.
“CP Radhakrishnan is the same person who, when he was governor of Jharkhand, allowed Chief Minister Hemant Soren to be arrested on the Governor’s office premises by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Soren had requested that the ED wait until he stepped out of the Governor’s office before arresting him, but a sitting chief minister was arrested inside the Governor’s premises. How can we support such a person who helped central agencies arrest an Opposition chief minister? Radhakrishnan misused his office and power to arrest Soren,” Pawar added.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also criticised the BJP.
“BJP leaders broke our party and even toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, and now the BJP wants our support for the NDA candidate for the vice president elections. BJP should have some morality before seeking our support for the vice president election,” he said.
“You will destroy our party and expect us to support you in the election. This is not possible. We, both NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) are with the INDIA bloc candidate in the vice president election,” Raut added.
Radhakrishnan, the incumbent governor of maharashtra, is a seasoned BJP leader from Tamil Nadu with an RSS background, is the BJP-led NDA's consensus candidate for the vice-presidential elections, while the opposition INDIA bloc nominated former Supreme Court Judge and the first Lokayukta of Goa, Justice B. Sudershan Reddy its candidate.