President election: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had agreed to support Droupadi Murmu, the nominee of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Some Shiv Sena MPs had earlier asked the party leadership to support Droupadi Murmu, NDA's pick for President race. According to sources, letter of support may be issued from Shiv Sena Central Office by Wednesday.
Along with this, 16 MPs have also advised Udvav Thackeray to patch up with Shinde faction and BJP as well.
Last week, Sena MPs Rahul Shewale and Rajendra Gavit had written to Thackeray and sought that the party back Droupadi Murmu. The former Maharashtra CM had called a meeting of the party MPs on Monday to take a decision on the next week's presidential election, scheduled on July 18.
Informing about the meeting Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said, "We discussed Droupadi Murmu (NDA's Presidential candidate) in our meeting yesterday. Supporting Droupadi Murmu does not mean supporting BJP. Shiv Sena's role will be clear in a day or two after party chief Uddhav Thackeray takes a decision. Opposition should remain active. We also have goodwill towards Opposition's Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha. Earlier we had supported Pratibha Patil, not the NDA candidate. We supported Pranab Mukherjee also," adding, "Shiv Sena does not take decisions under pressure."
In the past, the Shiv Sena had broken ranks with the NDA and supported the candidatures of Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee (both Congress leaders). The Sena had left the NDA in 2019 and the Thackeray-led party then formed government with the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra after ditching long-term ally BJP.
Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to visit Mumbai on July 14 when she will be meeting leaders from the BJP and Eknath Shinde faction. According to sources, Uddhav is apprehensive about his party MPs attending this meeting.
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