Sena's 16 MPs tell Uddhav Thackeray to back NDA's president pick Murmu: MP

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.

Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar said 16 MPs of the party, who had attended a meeting called by Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Monday, requested the former Maharashtra chief minister to support NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.

NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu is a former Jharkhand governor. (FILE PHOTO)

“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,” news agency ANI quoted Kirtikar as saying.

News agency PTI, quoting Kiritkar, reported that 13 of the 18 Lok Sabha MPs of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra physically attended a key meeting on the presidential elections and a majority of them suggested supporting Murmu.

However, party MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut claimed of the 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha, 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.

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 told PTI.

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. The presidential elections will be held on July 18.