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Unfathomable, says Congress as Sena backs NDA candidate Murmu for President
Senior Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said the Sena did not discuss with its allies before taking a call on the Presidential election, adding the real reason to support Droupadi Murmu may be known to only the party's leadership.
The Congress, a partner in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra, on Tuesday expressed its disappointment over the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s decision to support National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate Droupadi Murmu in the upcoming Presidential election.
Senior Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said the Sena did not discuss with its allies before taking a call on the Presidential election, adding the real reason to support Murmu may be known to only the party's leadership.
“It is unfathomable why the party (Shiv Sena) is supporting Murmu when its government (in Maharashtra) was brought down in a non-democratic way,” Thorat said.
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Stating that the Shiv Sena is a separate political entity with the right to take an individual stand on issues, Thorat said, "In this ideological battle, undemocratic ways were used to bring down a functional government and Sena's existence was also threatened."
He further said this presidential election is about a fight between two ideologies. “The struggle is for preserving and protecting democratic values. It has nothing to do with women and men or tribals and non-tribals. Those who are in support of the Constitution are standing behind Yashwant Sinham” he added.
The decision on the presidential candidate comes days after the Thackeray-led MVA government collapsed, followed by Sena rebel Eknath Shinde becoming the chief minister after engineering a rebellion in the party. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnvis has become the deputy chief minister.
Earlier in the day, Thackeray said the party's decision to support Murmu has been taken without any pressure.
"Actually going by the present political atmosphere, I should not have backed her (Murmu) because she is a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But we are not narrow-minded," Thackeray said.
“Some tribal leaders, including our legislators, from the community, met me and requested to support Murmu,” he added.
Hours later, Shiv Sena leader and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray said that the party supported tribals and hence, it will vote in favour of Murmu.
