‘Not narrow minded’: Uddhav's Shiv Sena to back NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu for President

Presidential election 2022: Uddhav Thackeray said the decision on supporting Droupadi Murmu was taken independently and not under any pressure.

Updated on: Jul 15, 2022, 23:27:48 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena will extend its support to Droupadi Murmu, the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate, for the Presidential election.

File photo of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

A statement in this regard was made by Thackeray a day after a meeting of the party was held in Mumbai where most of the MPs suggested supporting Murmu for the top constitutional post. Thirteen of the 18 Lok Sabha MPs of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra had physically attended the key meeting on Monday.

Thackeray said the decision was taken independently and not under any pressure. “I am not under pressure from anyone to support Murmu. We have taken decisions on presidential candidates independently in the past too,” he said.

“Some tribal leaders, including our legislators, from the community met me and requested to support Murmu,” the Sena supremo added.

“Actually, going by the present political atmosphere, I should not have backed her. But we are not narrow minded,” he said.

Thackeray resigned as Maharashtra chief minister last month following a rebellion by party leader Eknath Shinde, who then took over the top role with senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.

Earlier in the day, Sena MP Sanjay Raut said supporting Murmu does not mean supporting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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