AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, “AAP will support Opposition’s Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha. We respect Droupadi Murmu but we will vote for Yashwant Sinha.”
New Delhi: Amid a growing divide in the Opposition camp over support for its presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said it will throw its weight behind Sinha. AAP had skipped the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led meeting to select a consensus candidate.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, “AAP will support Opposition’s Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha. We respect Droupadi Murmu but we will vote for Yashwant Sinha.”
Sources said the decision was taken in a meeting attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, Punjab MP Raghav Chadha and MLA Atishi, among others.
AAP 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.
On Thursday, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), a key ally of the Congress party in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), announced its support to National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.
JMM president Shibu Soren, a former coal minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Thursday issued a whip to all MLAs and MPs of the party and asked them to vote for Murmu. Notably, the JMM was among the 22 political parties in the Opposition who had unanimously picked Sinha as the presidential candidate in June.
“It is the first time since independence that someone from the tribal community has been presented with the opportunity to become the President. Hence, all the MLAs and MPs would ensure that they cast their votes in favour of her,” Soren’s letter read. JMM has 30 MLAs and three MPs (including Shibu) at present.
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