Devendra Fadnavis calls Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray to seek support for NDA's VP nominee

Mumbai: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday sought the support of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray for NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan in the next month's vice-presidential elections.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said apart from CM Fadnavis, defence minister Rajnath Singh also called Thackeray, urging him to extend support to the NDA pick.

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 constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc at the national level.


The ruling NDA has fielded Maharashtra governor Radhakrishnan as its vice-presidential candidate, while former Supreme Court judge B Sudarshan Reddy is the opposition alliance's pick for the post. The election to the country's second highest constitutional office is scheduled on September 9.

During his telephonic conversations with Pawar and Thackeray, Fadnavis highlighted that Radhakrishnan is a registered voter from Maharashtra, and sought their support for his candidature in the upcoming vice-presidential election, sources said.

The CM urged both the leaders to consider Radhakrishnan's state connection and extend their support, they said.