Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale has written to former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray asking the party to support the government’s presidential candidate, Draupadi Murmu, instead of the Opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha, in the election scheduled on July 18.
Shewale, who is a second-term MP from Mumbai South Central met Thackeray here on Tuesday and handed over a letter seeking support for Murmu.
“Draupadi Murmu comes from the Adivasi community and has a seminal contribution in social life,” said Shewale, asking Thackeray to issue instructions to the party MPs accordingly.
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The Shiv Sena has 19 members in the Lok Sabha, including one from the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. However, functionaries close to developments said these parliamentarians will have to decide between the two factions that resulted from the 2-week political turmoil in Maharashtra. So far, 2 parliamentarians — Kalyan MP Shrikant and Thane MP Rajan Vichare — have already declared support for the Sena faction led by chief minister Eknath Shinde. Yavatmal-Washim MP Bhawana Gawli is also said to be sympathetic to the Shinde faction, said functionaries.Since the crisis began in the state, 15 of the 55 party MLAs have stuck with the Thackeray camp.
A Sena MP familiar with discussions said that the party was yet to announce their position on the presidential election. “There is a chance of cross-voting due to the elections taking place through secret ballot. Eventually, it will be Shiv Sainiks who are fighting each other. Shewale’s letter is an attempt to bring about a rapprochement between the two factions,” said another MP.
{{/usCountry}}A Sena MP familiar with discussions said that the party was yet to announce their position on the presidential election. “There is a chance of cross-voting due to the elections taking place through secret ballot. Eventually, it will be Shiv Sainiks who are fighting each other. Shewale’s letter is an attempt to bring about a rapprochement between the two factions,” said another MP.
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“The Shiv Sena is with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and will take a decision at the right time,” said Shiv Sena MP and party secretary Vinayak Raut.
Notably, when it was part of the NDA, the Shiv Sena had broken ranks twice with the BJP in the presidential poll. In 2007, it supported Congress nominee Pratibha Patil, who hailed from Maharashtra over the NDA’s Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and in 2012, backed Pranab Mukherjee over P A Sangma.