RS Deputy Chair's election: Nitish calls up Kejriwal, AAP hints at abstaining

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U President Nitish Kumar had called up Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal to seek support in the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman's election but the latter expressed inability to do so, an AAP leader tweeted on Wednesday.

The AAP also hinted that it could abstain from voting scheduled for Thursday since the Congress had not so far sought its support.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh tweeted that it cannot support Janata Dal-United candidate Harivansh as he has the backing of the Bharatiya Janata Party whereas Congress President Rahul Gandhi had not spoken so far to AAP Convenor Kejriwal for support to the opposition candidate B.K. Hariprasad.

"Nitish Kumarji called up Arvind Kejriwalji and sought AAP support for his party's candidate. As it is not possible to vote for BJP-backed JD-U candidate. If Rahul Gandhiji does not need our support for his party's candidate, the Aam Aadmi Party has no option but to skip voting," Singh said. 

Singh also retweeted the tweets by a party worker in which he had taken digs at the Congress. 

The tweets said that the Congress does politics with a"narrow mind" and that the AAP had supported Congress candidates in the presidential and vice-presidential elections but the main opposition party did not express gratitude. 

The tweets also said that if the Congress wants AAP support this time, Rahul Gandhi should talk to Kejriwal.

If the AAP abstains from voting for the post of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman on Thursday, it will bring down opposition numbers in the Upper House. 

The combined opposition has fielded Congress MP B.K. Hariprasad.