Former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday declared that his Shiv Sena faction would support NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu in the Presidential elections. This comes after the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena core committee decided to support Murmu. Sena MP Sanjay Raut, however, said that this does not mean they are supporting the BJP.
The development comes a day after several Shiv Sena MPs who attended a meeting convened by Uddhav Thackeray at his residence in Mumbai “requested” him to support NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu for President and open the door to a possible patch-up with the BJP and the breakaway Eknath Shinde faction, reports said.
A total 16 MPs said the party must extend its support to the NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.
“Shiv Sena has decided to support Murmu for presidential election but this does not mean we are supporting BJP,” Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday.
The presidential elections are scheduled to be held on July 18, and there is no whip for the presidential elections and MPs can vote as per their will. Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar told the media that 16 of the party’s MPs had agreed that the Sena should Murmu as she is a “woman belonging to the tribal community”.
“She is an NDA candidate but Droupadi Murmu belongs to the tribal community and is a woman. We should give her our support – this was the demand by all MPs (of the party). Uddhav ji told us that he will tell us his decision in a day or two,” Kirtikar said.
Sixteen out of the total 18 Lok Sabha MPs of the Sena physically attended the key meeting on the presidential elections and all agreed on supporting Murmu, Kiritkar said. “Out of 18 MPs, two were absent — Bhavana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde. All other MPs of the party were present in the meeting,” he added.
The Sena has 18 Lok Sabha MPs from Maharashtra and one, Kalaben Delkar, from Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
