Shah calls Sena chief to back RS candidate

Mumbai: Though Shiv Sena is regularly slamming the BJP and had abstained from voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, BJP president Amit Shah is trying to woo Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray ahead of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman election.  

He called Mr Thackeray on Tuesday and asked for support for NDA candidate Harivansh Singh of JDU. Mr Shah is likely to meet Mr Thackeray soon, said sources. The election of deputy chairman is crucial for the BJP.

The NDA needs 123 votes for victory. Considering the votes of the BJP and other allies, NDA candidate has 115 votes so far. Therefore,  three votes of Sena MPs Sanjay Raut, Anil Desai, Venugopal Dhoot are crucial for NDA.

The Opposition wanted to field Vandana Chavan, an NCP MP in the elections. But She would not file the nomination on Wednesday. “The party didn’t ask me to file nomination,” Mrs Chavan said. NCP president Sharad Pawar was hoping to get Sena’s support for Mrs Chavan as she is a Marathi candidate.

The Sena has declared that it would go solo in the upcoming elections and regularly slammed the Modi and Devendra Fadnavis governments.

So the party has decided to abstain from the elections if the Opposition does not file nominations or fields someone other than Mrs Chavan. Mr Thackeray will take the decision after filing the nominations, a source said.