Shiv Sena pitches for second term for Pranab
October 14, 2016 18:05
Ruling NDA constituent Shiv Sena today pitched for a second term for President Pranab Mukherjee even as the Congress said the party high command will take a call on it.
Sena leader Sanjay Raut said he will meet Mukherjee next week, insisting he has proved to be "best President" and that nobody can doubt his capabilities.
"In the last five years, he has shown that he is a capable and a non-controversial President, who is well-versed in national and international affairs," Raut, Shiv Sena's leader in the Rajya sabha, said.
Raut, who is the executive editor of Shiv Sena's mouthpeice Saamna, said, "Just like his party appreciated the surgical strikes by the armed forces and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, similarly, we are appreciating the good work of the President."
The comments from Raut, Shiv Sena's most visible public face, come at a time when the party's ties with BJP, with which it shares power both in Maharashtra and at the Centre, are under strain.
During run-up to the preesidential polls, Mukherjee had visited Matoshree, the residence of the Thackerays, to garner support for his candidature. The Sena, under Bal Thackeray's leadership, had broken ranks with BJP to support Mukherjee's presidential candidature in 2012.
Mukherjee's current term ends on July 25 next year and, according to reports, the Rashtrapati Bhawan has approached the government to find a suitable accomodation for him in Lutyen's bungalow zone.
Barring the first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad, none of his successors has had a second term in Rashtrapati Bhawan.
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