Uddhav Thackeray.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: The BJP has sought the support of Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for the elections to the post of Vice President in which the ruling NDA has fielded Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have reached out to Thackeray, who is a key leader of the opposition Congress-led I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
"Yes...Rajnath Singh and Devendra Fadnavis have reached out to Uddhav Thackeray (and sought his support)," Shiv Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut told reporters.
The opposition alliance has fielded Justice B Sudershan Reddy (Retd), a former Supreme Court judge, to take on Radhakrishnan.
It may be recalled, after Radhakrishnan's name was announced, Fadnavis had appealed to all MPs of Maharashtra to support him. "In fact, Radhakrishnan, though may hail from Tamil Nadu, is a registered voter from Mumbai...he has voted in Mumbai during the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections...as he is a voter from Mumbai we must support him," he had said adding that he will make particular request to Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar to support Radhakrishnan as they represent cause of Maharashtra.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) have nine and eight members, respectively in the Lok Sabha and two each in the Rajya Sabha.
If Radhakrishnan is elected as vice president, he would be the second Maharashtra Governor to occupy the second biggest constitutional post of India after Shankar Dayal Sharma, who later also became the President of India.
It is worth mentioning that the undivided Shiv Sena had broken ranks, when it was part of the NDA and instead supported UPA's Presidential nominee Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee, in 2007 and 2012, respectively.
While Patil hailed from Maharashtra, Mukherjee enjoyed good personal relations with late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray.