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At Sena meet, 11 Lok Sabha MPs ask Uddhav to back Murmu in Presidential election
To prevent a further split in its legislative wing, the Shiv Sena is expected to announce its support for Droupadi Murmu, the candidate of the BJP-led NDA for the presidential election on July 18, Sena functionaries familiar with the developments said.
To prevent a further split in its legislative wing, the Shiv Sena is expected to announce its support for Droupadi Murmu, the candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the presidential election on July 18, Sena functionaries familiar with the developments said.
At a meeting of the party’s parliamentarians chaired by Sena president and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday, a majority of them sought support for Murmu in a bid to build bridges with Shinde and the BJP, a Sena MP said on condition of anonymity.
The meeting was attended by 13 Lok Sabha and two Rajya Sabha MPs. Six Lok Sabha MPs, including chief minister Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant, who represents Kalyan constituency, did not turn up for the meeting.
The absenteeism was because they were informed about the meeting at the eleventh hour, the Sena MP cited above said.
“We all authorised Uddhav ji to take a decision regarding the presidential poll and he said this will be taken soon. A total of 11 Lok Sabha MPs present in the meeting asked that the Shiv Sena support Murmu. We also stressed on the need for reconciliation with (party dissident and chief minister Eknath) Shinde and the BJP and for a way to overcome the present crisis,” a second Sena MP said, asking not to be named.
The Sena has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha, including 18 from Maharashtra and one from the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The party has three MPs, including spokesperson Sanjay Raut, in the Rajya Sabha.
The Sena, which saw 40 of its 55 assembly legislators walk out to form the government with the BJP last month, is keen to ensure that Murmu, who is currently touring various states to seek support for her nomination, also pays a visit to Matoshree, Thackeray’s residence, as a sort of face-saver, once the party announces its support for her.
The former Jharkhand governor visited West Bengal on Monday and is expected to visit Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh later this week. She is expected to visit Mumbai on July 14.
Once the party announces its support, Murmu will likely meet Thackeray at Matoshree when she visits the city on Thursday, according to the second MP quoted above.
Rahul Shewale, Sena MP from Mumbai South Central, last week in a letter to Thackeray sought the party’s backing for Murmu and is said to have taken the initiative to bring the party around.
If the Sena does so, it will be a departure from the choice of its Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), who support former finance minister Yashwant Sinha for the president’s post.
However, support for Murmu will help the Sena save face and prevent a split in its votes, given that some of its MPs are said to be in touch with the Shinde-BJP camp.
On Sunday, BJP leader Ramdas Tadas, who is an MP from Wardha, alleged that there was resentment among Sena MPs, and 12 of them are keen to support the Shinde-led rebel faction.
A split in the Shiv Sena parliamentary party may bolster Shinde’s claim that they are the “real” Shiv Sena.
Besides Dr Shrikant Shinde and five-term Yavatmal-Washim MP Bhavana Gawali, Hemant Patil (Hingoli), Sanjay (Bandu) Jadhav (Parbhani), Kalaben Delkar (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) and Sanjay Mandlik (Kolhapur) were also absent. While Jadhav had fever, Mandlik was in Delhi, a third Sena MP said.
Delkar had sought permission to stay away, and Patil was in his constituency. Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai was in Delhi.
