The Shiv Sena on Monday sprang a surprise on its senior ruling ally BJP, by mooting the name of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for the post of Indian President.
Amid speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was planning to call a meeting of NDA leaders in the first week of April to finalise a ruling coalition candidate for the forthcoming Presidential poll, the Sena rooted for Bhagwat’s candidature for the country’s top post on the ground that he is an “ideal choice” to fulfill the dream of ushering in a “Hindu Rashtra” (Hindu State) in the country.
“Mohanrao Bhagwat is a good candidate for the President’s post. Even our party president Uddhav Thackeray favours his candidature. We have a Hindtuvavadi like Narendra Modi as a Prime Minister. We have another Hindutva crusader like Adinath Yogi as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. In that context, we will have no objection if the NDA chooses Bhagwat as the choice for the President’s post. If we have to fulfill the dream of Hindu Rashtra, Bhagwat is an ideal choice for the top post,” Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said.
On the speculation about the possibility of Modi housing a dinner meeting for the NDA leaders in New Delhi to discuss and finalise the choice of presidential candidate, Raut said, “We get to hear only in the media the talk about the Prime Minister hosting a dinner meeting for NDA leaders. We have not received any such invitation for such a dinner meeting. If the dinner meeting is seeking the Shiv Sena’s support to the BJP’s presidential nominee, then such a meeting will be held in Matoshri (Thackerays’ residence) in Mumbai and not anywhere else. We host a good dinner and take care of our guests well at Matoshri”.
It may be recalled that in as many as four Presidential elections in the past, including the ones held in 2007 and 2012, the Shiv Sena had gone against the BJP’s choice. In 2007, the Sena had whole-heartedly supported the UPA’s Presidential poll candidate Prathibha Patil on the ground that she was a “Maharashtrian” and that the issue involved the State's "pride”. In 2012, the Sena had thrown its weight behind UPA’s candidate Pranab Mukherjee on the ground that the latter had personally called late party chief Bal Thackeray and sought the party’s support.
In the two earlier Presidential polls –in 1997 and 1992, the Shiv Sena had supported the candidatures of TN Seshan and Ram Jethmalani respectively. On both these occasions, the candidates supported by the Sena had lost badly in the polls.
Meanwhile, senior State BJP Minister Chandrakant Patil denied that he and senior Cabinet colleague Sudhir Mungantiwar had any plans to call on Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshri to greet the latter on the occasion of “Gudi Padwa”, the Maharashtrian new year, on Tuesday.