Devendra Fadnavis (left) and Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has reached out to Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) president Uddhav Thackeray to seek support for NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan in next month's vice presidential election.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mr Fadnavis said Mr Pawar has extended his support to the Opposition's candidate but Mr Thackeray is yet to give a clear cut response.
"I spoke to Uddhav Thackery ji and Sharad Pawar ji and requested them to support the Maharashtra Governor (CP Radhakrishnan) candidature for the vice presidential poll. Uddhav ji told me that he will discuss and let me know. Sharad Pawar ji said that he will have to go with the candidate fielded by the Opposition," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.
Mr Fadnavis reached out to the two leaders on Thursday.
Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said besides Mr Fadnavis, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also called Mr Thackeray and urged 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 Mr 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 to be held on September 9.
According to sources, during his telephonic conversations with Mr Pawar and Mr Thackeray, the Chief Minister highlighted that Mr Radhakrishnan is a registered voter from Maharashtra. He urged both the leaders to consider Mr Radhakrishnan's state connection and extend their support, they said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) has nine and NCP (SP) 10 Lok Sabha MPs, while both the parties have two members each in the Rajya Sabha.
The electoral college for the vice-presidential elections comprises members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Nominated members of the Upper House of Parliament are also eligible to cast their votes.
The effective strength of the electoral college is 781 and the majority mark is 391.
