Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday refused to support NDA’s vice-presidential candidate, saying that he does not align with their ideology and that the party “cannot back those who do not believe in democracy”.
The NCP(SP) supremo’s statement came after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis requested the opposition in the state to support NDA’s VP nominee CP Radhakrishnan.
“Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis urged us to support the NDA’s VP candidate, CP Radhakrishnan, as he is the Governor of Maharashtra. It is not possible as he does not align with our ideology,” Pawar said, declining the Maharashtra CM’s request for support.
Pawar further blamed Radhakrishnan for Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren’s arrest last year. He said that Radhakrishnan was the Jharkhand governor when Soren was arrested during his visit to the Raj Bhavan.
“CP Radhakrishnan was the Governor of Jharkhand. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren was arrested during his visit to the Raj Bhavan by central agencies. CM requested that he should not be arrested in Raj Bhavan. He will come out and surrender. But his request was not considered,” the NCP supremo said.
“This is how the power was misused. Thus, we cannot support those who do not believe in democracy,” he added.
Pawar further said that opposition candidate former Supreme Court judge B Sudarshan Reddy has already filed his nomination and that the INDIA bloc leaders have decided to vote for him.
“Opposition candidate B Sudarshan Reddy has already filed his nomination. Even though we have fewer numbers than the NDA, we are not worried,” he said.
“All Opposition votes will go to Reddy. It knows its strength. We’re not expecting any surprises,” he added.
Fadnavis sought support from Pawar and even spoke to Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray to back Radhakrishnan. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that besides Fadnavis, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also called Uddhav Thackeray, urging him to support to the NDA candidate.
The election for the next Vice President, which is the country’s second-highest constitutional office, is set to be held on September 9.
