President Pranab Mukherjee should reject Afzal Guru's mercy plea: Shiv Sena

Mumbai: Less than 24 hours after Pranab Mukherjee was elected as the 13th President of India, parties that favoured him are already trying to extract their pound of flesh. Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, through party mouth piece 'Saamna', wants Pranab Mukherjee to begin his presidency by dealing with the long pending issue of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The editorial says the new President should immediately reject Afzal Guru's mercy plea. The Shiv Sena had broken ranks with the NDA to back Pranab Mukjerjee in the Presidential poll.

Pranab Mukherjee was elected as the 13th President of India on Sunday. He won the Presidential election against PA Sangma by a huge margin, getting 69 per cent votes.

Shiv Sena says Pranab Mukherjee should start his Presidency with rejecting Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru\'s clemency plea.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had on Sunday thanked the Shiv Sena for supporting Pranab Mukherjee. Chavan congratulated Pranab Mukherjee for becoming the 13th President of the country while expressing his gratitude for political parties, including the Shiv Sena, that stood by the Congress veteran.

"It is not only the victory of UPA or Congress, but also that of NDA constituent like Shiv Sena which voted for Mukherjee," he had said.

The President's office had received a total of 27 mercy pleas, including the one from three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, between 2008 and 2011. Of them, three were rejected and death sentence to 10 others was commuted to life imprisonment. 14 other pleas were pending decision.

(With additional information from PTI)

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