Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday he has spoken to rivals Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar regarding the vice presidential election and requested them to support the NDA candidate – state governor CP Radhakrishnan.
For context, the vice presidential election will be taking place on September 9, necessitated by the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar citing health reasons.
What did Thackeray, Pawar tell Fadnavis?
Devendra Fadnavis informed that while Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray said he would consider the request and respond after discussions, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar indicated that his party would back the Opposition's nominee.
"I spoke to Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar regarding the Vice-Presidential election, which is non-partisan. I requested them to support the Maharashtra Governor, who is also a voter from the state. Uddhav Thackeray told me he would discuss with his party leaders before deciding, while Sharad Pawar said that since the Opposition has its own candidate, he would go with them," Fadnavis said while speaking to media.
{{/usCountry}}"I spoke to Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar regarding the Vice-Presidential election, which is non-partisan. I requested them to support the Maharashtra Governor, who is also a voter from the state. Uddhav Thackeray told me he would discuss with his party leaders before deciding, while Sharad Pawar said that since the Opposition has its own candidate, he would go with them," Fadnavis said while speaking to media.
{{/usCountry}}The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has nominated Maharashtra governor CP Radhakrishnan for the vice presidential election while the INDIA bloc of the Opposition has named former Supreme Court judge Sudershan Reddy for the same.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has nine MPs in the Lok Sabha and two in the Rajya Sabha, while the NCP (SP) has eight and two respectively.
The vice president is chosen via an indirect election by an electoral college composed solely of Members of Parliament—both elected and nominated—from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. State legislators do not participate.