Targeting the Congress for nominating Gopalkrishna Gandhi for the post of Vice-President of India, Shiv Sena on Monday advised the party to get its ‘mental balance’ checked following the decision.
"On what basis has the Congress nominated Gopalkrishna Gandhi for the post of the Vice-President? He is the same man who advocated for the mercy plea for Mumbai serial blast conspirator Yakub Memon," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told ANI.
"If they want Gopalkrishna Gandhi to hold a Constitutional position in the nation, then it is important to get their 'mental balance' checked," he added.
Raut also said that Congress should understand that nominating Gopalkrishna, who backed Memon, is like going against the nation.
Raut also hit out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her remark on the President, saying that the presidential poll is a fight against "narrow-minded communal vision".
"Who is narrow minded, I want to ask Sonia Gandhi. What is the definition of narrow mindedness? She should forget about presidential election. Ram Nath Govind will have historic victory," he said.
Voting to pick India’s 14th President is underway in the Parliament building as well as state assemblies.
Kovind’s victory against Meira Kumar is a foregone conclusion as close to 40 parties, including many outside the NDA fold, have pledged support to him. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which has about 1.91 per cent of electoral college votes, supported Mr Kovind’s candidature – a move which came as a big blow to the opposition, which had picked the Presidential elections as an occasion to forge an anti-BJP bloc ahead of the 2019 general elections.
While Kumar has support of 17 opposition parties, Kovind is set to get nearly 70 per cent of the electoral college votes.
The Opposition has nominated Gopalkrishna Gandhi for the post of Vice-President, but the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is yet to announce the name of its candidate. The Vice-President election is scheduled on will be held on August 5.
