Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray himself has announced Shiv Sena will support NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu in the presidential election. Thackeray held a meeting on Monday to support the presidential candidate. Shiv Sena MPs who attended the meeting had demanded Murmu’s support. Apart from Murmu, the name of opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha was also discussed in the meeting.
Shiv Sena will support Droupadi Murmu for Presidential elections: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray pic.twitter.com/Y6LrGWdlVc
— ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2022
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said that Draupadi Murmu’s name was discussed for the post of President and Murmu’s support does not mean BJP’s support. Let us inform that Murmu comes from the tribal community and about 10% of the population of Maharashtra is tribal. Therefore, this factor is being considered as a big reason for supporting him.
Thackeray said, seeing that a tribal woman has got a chance to become the President, we have decided to support Draupadi Murmu. I know politics will start after this, but there is no politics in it. We had supported UPA candidate Pratibha Patil earlier also.
Thackeray further said that there was no pressure on me for this decision, nor have we explored any political angle in it. It is being propagated that my MPs put pressure on me and I was forced to take a decision. The MPs said that till now no one has been given a chance to represent the tribal community at this level. So we all should support Draupadi Murmu ji.
Raut said the opposition should remain alive. Earlier we had supported Pratibha Patil and not NDA candidate. We also supported Pranab Mukherjee. Shiv Sena does not take decisions under pressure.
Opposition should remain alive. We also have goodwill towards Opposition's Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha… Earlier we supported Pratibha Patil… not the NDA candidate. We supported Pranab Mukherjee also. Shiv Sena does not take decisions under pressure: Sanjay Raut pic.twitter.com/JVhOSKujpe
— ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2022
Earlier on Monday, Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar said that Murmu is an NDA candidate but at the same time belongs to the tribal community and is a woman. We should give our support to them. This is the demand of all the MPs of the party. Uddhav ji told us that he will give his decision in a day or two.
We supported UPA candidate Pratibha Patil because she is a Marathi woman. We supported UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee. Uddhav ji will announce Murmu’s support as she is a tribal woman. We must look at the presidential election beyond politics. The Presidential election is to be held on 18th July.
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: Gajanan Kirtikar, Shiv Sena MP pic.twitter.com/PRpEAE2HkJ
— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2022