Shiv Sena to support Droupadi Murmu for Presidential polls

"She is an NDA candidate but Droupadi Murmu belongs to the tribal community and is a woman. We should give her our support." Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar said.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena MPs, who had attended a meeting called by party chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on presidential elections, have demanded that the party should support National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.

Party MP Gajanan Kirtikar said 16 of 18 party MPs were present in the meeting and added that Uddhav Thackeray will convey his decision in a day or two. "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.

"We had supported Pratibha Patil, a UPA candidate, as she's a Marathi woman. We had supported Pranab Mukherjee, a UPA candidate. Uddhavji will announce support to her (Droupadi Murmu) as she's a tribal woman. We should see beyond politics for the Presidential election," he added.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut clarified on Tuesday that Shiv Sena's decision to support Murmu as the Presidential candidate does not mean that the Sena is hand in gloves with the BJP. "We discussed Droupadi Murmu in our meeting yesterday. Supporting Droupadi Murmu does not mean supporting BJP. Shiv Sena's role will be clear in a day or two; our party chief Uddhav Thackeray will make a decision," Raut said.

The voting for the presidential election will take place on July 18 and the counting of votes will take place on July 21. While Droupadi Murmu is the presidential candidate of the BJP-led NDA, Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the opposition parties. The Shiv Sena had seen a revolt last month which led to the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of the MVA government which also had Congress and NCP.

Eknath Shinde, who led the revolt in Shiv Sena, took oath as Chief Minister on June 30. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took an oath as Deputy Chief Minister. NDA presidential candidate also has the support of the YSRCongress Party, BJD and Akali Dal. She has been touring various states to seek the support of legislators.

Droupadi Murmu is a former Governor of Jharkhand and a former Odisha minister. If elected, she will be the first tribal President of India and the country's second female President. Droupadi Murmu is the first presidential candidate from Odisha of a major political party or alliance. (With Agency inputs)