B. Sudershan Reddy, the candidate for the vice presidential polls, backed by the opposition parties, met Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders in Mumbai on Friday. I would write to all the members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha with an appeal for support, he told media persons.
Reddy met with the NCP SCP chief, Sharad Pawar, and the Shiv Sena UBT chief, Uddhav Thackeray, and addressed the media alongside MPCC chief Harshwardhan Sapkal.
I can request all party MPs because I don’t belong to any political party, nor do I have such an intention, said the retired Supreme Court justice. In a detailed letter, he will appeal to their conscience, Reddy said.
I am ready to meet the BJP leadership if given a chance, he said.
During his meeting with Uddhav Thackeray, the latter assured him of the Sena UBT’s support. Thackeray said miracles can happen, hoping for Reddy's victory.
Speaking to the media, Thackeray said that CM Fadnavis had called him. I found it surprising that despite breaking his party, the BJP needs votes of his MPs, he said, adding, during the presidential polls in 2022, the Shiv Sena voted in favour of NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu. But even after winning the polls, there was no courtesy call from the BJP, he said.
The NCP SCP chief, Sharad Pawar, also said he had received calls from the Chief Minister seeking support for the NDA candidate. The CM is consistently pressing one point that the candidate is Maharashtra's governor, hence all should vote for him. But that is not an issue for us, he said.
Announcing support to Reddy’s candidature, Pawar said a chief minister was arrested inside Raj Bhavan when NDA's nominee Radhakrishnan was the governor of Jharkhand, and asked what dignity he would bring to India's second-highest constitutional post.
I respect the chair of the governor. But I cannot forget that when he was the governor of Jharkhand, the chief minister of that state, who comes from a tribal community, was arrested inside the Raj Bhavan despite his request not to do so, he said, referring to the arrest of Hemant Soren last year.
The stature and dignity of the post must be maintained by both the government and the Opposition. That is why this election becomes so crucial," Pawar said after Reddy called on him at his Breach Candy residence.
