Presidential polls: Why did Yashwant Sinha cancel his Mumbai visit?

Presidential polls: The elections to pick the next president will be held on Monday. The counting will take place, if required, on July 21. The new president will take oath on July 25.

Published on: Jul 16, 2022, 10:41:32 IST

By HT News Desk | Written by Aryan Prakash

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Yashwant Sinha, the opposition's presidential candidate has cancelled his visit to Mumbai, this after the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance partner Shiv Sena announcing support to his opponent and NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu.

"Sinha's visit to Mumbai, where he was scheduled to meet and address the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) legislators, has been cancelled," a Nationalist Congress Party leader told PTI, adding that the visit has been cancelled because Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has announced his party's support to Murmu.

Opposition's Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha. (ANI)

On Tuesday, Thackeray had announced that the Shiv Sena will support Murmu in the presidential elections to be held on Monday. He denied reports that the decision was taken under some pressure. The former chief minister said that several Shiv Sainiks who work among the tribals said this was the first time that a tribal woman was being pitched for the highest constitutional position.

“The Shiv Sena will support Droupadi-ji (Murmu) in the presidential poll,” Thackeray had said.

The Shiv Sena has 19 MPs in Lok Sabha which includes 18 from Maharashtra. It has three Rajya Sabha MPs and 55 MLAs. However, 40 of these legislators have now joined the faction led by incumbent chief minister Eknath Shinde.

Uddhav Thackeray headed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government which also comprised NCP and Congress as the other allies.

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The Congress has 44 MLAs and one Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra, while the NCP has 53 legislators, four Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members each.

After getting the support of some regional parties like BJD, YSR-CP, BSP, AIADMK, TDP, JDS, Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena, the vote share of Murmu has already crossed 60 per cent.

The elections to pick the next president will be held on Monday. The counting will take place, if required, on July 21. The new president will take oath on July 25.

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HT News Desk
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