New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided that it will back opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha in the Presidential Poll after being non-committal on the issue for long.
According to Indian Express “AAP will support Opposition’s Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha. We respect Droupadi Murmu but we will vote for Yashwant Sinha”.
The decision was arrived at in the political advisory committee meeting of the party on Saturday. It was attended by AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Punjab MP Raghav Chadha, MLA Atishi, among others.
AAP has been non-committal on the issue for long reflecting the fissures among opposition parties on finding a common candidate to pit against NDA’s candidate for president. It cited differences with opposition parties and gave the first meeting convened by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee – to deliberate on zeroing in on an opposition candidate – a miss.
The AAP is the only non-BJP, non-Congress outfit having governments in two states – Delhi and Punjab. It has 10 Rajya Sabha MPs from the two states, including three from Delhi. The party has a total of 156 MLAs including 92 in Punjab, 62 in Delhi, and two in Goa.
Yashwant Sinha is in the fray for the top constitutional post of the country with Droupadi Murmu, the candidate chosen by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. Sinha is already backed by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Trinamool Congress and Congress
On the other hand, Biju Janata Dal, YSR Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal-Secular, Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena have pledged support to Murmu. She is expected to receive 60% of total votes.
Voting for India’s new president will take place on Monday, July 18. If elected, Murmu (64) will be the first tribal woman to become the President of India.
Courtesy: The Wire
