Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman election: Shiv Sena to back NDA candidate Harivansh Singh

New Delhi, Aug 8: The Shiv Sena on Wednesday said it will support the NDA's nominee in the election for the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman's post.

The NDA has fielded Harivansh Narayan Singh of the JD(U) for the August 9 election. "We will back the NDA candidate," said Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai.

BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday called his Sena counterpart Uddhav Thackeray and sought support for the August 9 election.

The Shiv Sena had abstained from voting on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha moved by the Opposition last month against the Modi government.

The Congress has reportedly decided field BK Hariprasad in the election for the post of Deputy Chairman in Rajya Sabha.

Going by the existing situation, the NDA does not have the numbers on its side. It has the support of 90 MPs in the Upper House with parties such as the BPF, JD(U), NPF, RPI, SAD and SDF backing it.

The NDA would also look for the support of three out of the four nominated members. Going by these numbers, the NDA is still short of around 32 votes. To win the election in the 245 member house, a candidate would require the support of 123 members.

The opposition on the other hand has the support of 112 MPs which includes the Congress, AAP, TMC, BSP, CPI (M), DMK, IUML, JD(S), Kerala Congress, NCP, RLD, PDP, SP, and TDP. With these numbers, the opposition is still short by 11 members.

The post of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman has been lying vacant since June this year after the retirement of PJ Kurien, who was elected to the upper house on a Congress ticket from Kerala.