Presidential polls: 16 Shiv Sena MPs support NDA's Droupadi Murmu, Uddhav Thackeray's decision in next couple of days

Mumbai: Sixteen out of 18 Shiv Sena MPs have decided to extend support to Droupadi Murmu, NDA's presidential candidate. The election for India's next president will be held on 18 July.

Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar today told the media that 16 of the party's MPs have agreed that the Sena should support Murmu as she is a "woman belonging to the tribal community".

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

The Shiv Sena MP further said, "We should give Droupadi Murmu 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."

Of the total 18 Shiv Sena's Lok Sabha MPs, 16 of them physically attended the key meeting on the presidential elections convened by Uddhav Thackeray in at 'Matoshree' in Mumbai today. All agreed on supporting Murmu, said Kiritkar.

"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.

For the unversed, apart from 18 Lok Sabha MPs in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena also has its lawmaker, Kalaben Delkar, in Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

Last week, Maharashtra chief minister and rebel Sena leader Eknath Shinde said it is a matter of pride that Murmu, a tribal community member, has been nominated for the post of the country's President.

Don't Miss: Droupadi Murmu's nomination for President is matter of pride and honour: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given an opportunity to Murmu to become the country's President. It is a matter of pride and honour. I am also proud that a tribal community member has been nominated for the post," he said.

It is worth mentioning that there is no whip during the Presidential elections and the MPs can vote according to their will.

In the presidential election 2022 NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu faces Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.

With inputs from agencies

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