NDA’s VP pick not aligned with our ideology, told Fadnavis can't accept his support plea: Pawar

Mumbai, Aug 22 (PTI) Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Friday said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had called him up to seek support for NDA’s vice-presidential candidate CP Radhakrishnan, but he expressed his inability to accept the request.

Talking to reporters here, Pawar said the BJP-led NDA's candidate was not aligned with the ideology of his party and other members of the Opposition.

The Rajya Sabya MP, whose party is a constituent of Opposition bloc INDIA, pointed out that the coalition's candidate, B Sudarshan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge, has already filed nomination for the September 9 poll.

“Opposition candidate Sudarshan Reddy has already filed his nomination. Even though we have fewer numbers than the NDA, we are not worried,” the NCP (SP) chief stated.

The former Union minister maintained the Opposition has unanimously decided to field Reddy as its candidate for the country’s second-highest constitutional office whose occupant is also the ex-officio chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.

“All Opposition votes will go to Reddy. It knows its strength. We’re not expecting any surprises,” Pawar said.

“The NDA candidate is not aligned with our ideology. When he was the Jharkhand governor, a case was filed against Chief Minister Hemant Soren. When Soren went to meet the governor, he was arrested at Raj Bhavan.

“It was a glaring example of the misuse of power, and it is not appropriate to expect support for such a candidate. Therefore, I expressed my inability to accept the chief minister’s request,” Pawar said.

Fadnavis on Thursday sought the support of Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, another key figure in the INDIA bloc, for Radhakrishnan.

Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had said besides Fadnavis, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also called Thackeray, urging him to extend support to the NDA pick.

Meanwhile, the NCP (SP) questioned why Fadnavis had made phone calls to people whose party he was "responsible for breaking" to seek support in the Vice-Presidential election.

"On what moral grounds did Mr Devendra Fadnavis make phone calls to people whose party he was responsible for breaking? Mr Fadnavis had said, 'I not only came back (in power), but returned after breaking two parties'," NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said in statement.

The spokesperson was apparently referring to splits in the Shiv Sena (2022) and the NCP (2023).

Those who claim to be invincible seem to have once again lost their morality for the hunger of power, Crasto opined.

"Is Mr Fadnavis worried that the BJP and NDA will not garner enough votes to elect their Vice-Presidential candidate? Is he also worried that there will be cross-voting against their candidate?" the NCP (SP) spokesperson asked.

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 also constituents of the INDIA bloc at the national level. PTI MR NR RSY