AAP to support Yashwant Sinha in Presidential polls, says Sanjay Singh

|HT|

The Aam Aadmi Party will support Yashwant Sinha in Monday's presidential election, MP Sanjay Singh said Saturday after the AAP's political affairs committee met in Delhi. "We have respect for Droupadi Murmu but will support Yashwant Sinhaji," Sanjay Singh said. Sinha is the candidate of an opposition front led by Bengal chief minister and Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee, which does not include the AAP.

Sinha is a former union minister and an ex-member of both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress, the latter of which he joined last year and from which he resigned last month after being named a presidential candidate.

He faces ex-BJP leader and former Jharkhand governor Droupadi Murmu, who has been fielded by his former party and is set to win Monday's poll.

She has the support not only of the BJP but also of the ruling Biju Janata Dal from her native Odisha and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha that is in power in that state with the Congress. The Akali Dal and Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (United), an ally of the BJP, and Karnataka's Janata Dal (Secular) have also backed Murmu. Support for Sinha to succeed Ram Nath Kovind as President of India - never very high - is fast-dwindling and that was underlined this week by Uddhav Thackeray announcing the Shiv Sena - another Congress ally - will also back Murmu. Yashwant Sinha today cancelled his visit to Mumbai.

He was scheduled to meet and address legislators of the Maha Vikas Aghadi - the Sena-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance that has been deposed.

Murmu's expected vote return has already crossed 60 per cent.

President Kovind's term ends July 24. The election for his replacement will be held Monday, with results expected within three days.

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