Big boost for Draupadi Murmu! 16 Shiv Sena MPs back NDA's presidential candidate

Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar said that most of the party MPs said that Draupadi Murmu is a tribal woman and that's why they should vote for her.

Mumbai: Sixteen out of the total 18 Lok Sabha MPs of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Monday attended a crucial meeting on the upcoming  presidential elections 2022 and a majority of them suggested supporting the BJP-led NDA's candidate Droupadi Murmu. News agency ANI cited Shiv Sena leader Gajanan Kiritkar confirming the same. Shiv Kirtikar said that most of the party MPs agreed that Draupadi Murmu is a tribal woman and that's why they should vote for her.

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

"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 tribal woman. We should see beyond politics for the Presidential election," Kirtikar told ANI.

He added that out of 18 MPs, two were absent - Bhavana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde. All other MPs of the party were present in the meeting. Kiritkar said 13 MPs physically attended the meeting, while three others - Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Mandlik and Hemant Patil - could not make it to the gathering but affirmed their support to the leadership.

“Most of the MPs were of the opinion that the party should support Droupadi Murmu,” Kirtikar reportedly said. Two Lok Sabha MPs of the Sena - Bhawana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde (son of Chief minister Eknath Shinde) - did not attend the meeting, he added. 

Out of 18 MPs, two were absent - Bhavana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde. All other MPs of the party were present in the meeting: Gajanan Kirtikar, Shiv Sena MP pic.twitter.com/8lpvYVQWWA

— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2022

However, party MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut claimed that out of the 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha, only 15 attended the meeting held at 'Matoshree', the private residence of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra. He did not provide details.

Besides 18 Lok Sabha members in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena also has its MP, Kalaben Delkar, in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

A shift in a few Shiv Sena votes may not greatly alter the outcome of the Presidential polls, in which the government appears to have a numerical advantage with the support of Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal and Nitish Kumar's Rashtriya Janata Dal.

The presidential elections will be held on July 18. NDA nominee Murmu faces Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.