Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that tribal leaders of his party told him it was the first time that a tribal woman is getting chance to become the President
Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. ANI
Mumbai: Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that the Shiv Sena faction led by him will support the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) candidate Droupadi Murmu in the 18 July presidential polls.
“Nobody pressured me in the meeting of Sena MPs” to announce support to Murmu, said Thackeray.
Thackeray’s announcement comes within a day after 16 of 18 Shiv Sena MPs in Maharashtra said that they will be extending support to Murmu in the presidential polls.
On Monday, Thackeray had convened a key meeting on the presidential elections at ‘Matoshree’ in Mumbai. After the meeting 16 MPs said they will be supporting Murmu, while two other lawmakers Bhavana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde were absent.
Announcing the party’s decision today, Thackeray said: “Tribal leaders of my party told me that this was the first time that a tribal woman is getting the chance to become the President.”
Thackeray further said that going by the present political atmosphere, he should not have backed Murmu but is doing so because his party is not “narrow-minded.”
According to a report by ToI, the Shiv Sena MPs, who attended the meeting on Monday, hinted to Thackeray that once Shiv Sena formally backs Murmu, some doors may reopen for a patch-up with the Eknath Shinde camp and BJP.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena MP and party’s spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that the party may support Murmu in the presidential elections, but that it does not mean that Sena is supporting BJP.
“We discussed Droupadi Murmu (NDA’s Presidential candidate) in our meeting yesterday… supporting Droupadi Murmu does not mean supporting BJP,” Raut said.
In the presidential elections 2022, NDA’s Droupadi Murmu will be contesting against Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. Also, there is no whip for the polls and the MPs can vote according to their will.
With inputs from agencies
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