Uddhav Thackeray announces support to Murmu

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena will support National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, party chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday.

He said the Sena is announcing support for Murmu without any pressure while acknowledging that this is the first occasion wherein a tribal woman is getting the opportunity to become the president. Thackeray, who recently resigned as Maharashtra chief minister following a rebellion from within his party, said he should not have supported Murmu going by the current political circumstances.

Nobody pressured me in the meeting of Sena MPs, Thackeray said, referring to the meeting of Sena MPs held at his residence in Mumbai a day earlier.

After getting the support of some regional parties like BJD, YSR-CP, BSP, AIADMK, TDP, JDS, Shiromani Akali Dal and now Shiv Sena, the vote share of NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu has already crossed 60 per cent. It was around 50 per cent at the time of her nomination.

In the meeting held on Monday, most MPs of Sena had urged Thackeray to back Murmu's candidature.

“I am clarifying my stand. Tribal leaders of my party told me that this is the first time that a woman from the tribal community is getting the chance to become the president. Respecting their views, we have decided to back Droupadi Murmmu's candidature,” he said.

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

Thackeray said several party leaders, especially from the tribal community like MLC Aamshya Padvi, former MLA Nirmala Gavit, and Eklavya Sanghtana's Shivajirao Dhavale had urged him to back Murmu.

The Sena chief said he got representations from Nomadic Tribes and Scheduled Tribes communities to back Murmu.

He recalled that the Sena had backed United Progressive Alliance's (UPA's) nominees Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential polls held in 2007 and 2012, respectively, even though the Sena was a constituent of the BJP-led NDA at that time.

Even at that time, the Shiv Sena had thought beyond politics and did what is good for the country, Thackeray said.

The Shiv Sena has 19 MPs in Lok Sabha, including 18 from Maharashtra. It has three MPs in Rajya Sabha.

On the home turf of Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena is left with 15 MLAs, after 40 legislators sided with the Eknath Shinde faction.

A delegation of Shiv Sena is likely to meet Murmu to convey the party's support to her, a party functionary said.

Polls to elect the next president will be held on July 18. The race for the Rashtrapati Bhavan will be between Murmu and Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.

Unfathomable, says Maha Cong

The Congress on Tuesday said the decision of the Shiv Sena to support Murmu was "unfathomable".

Senior Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, in a statement, said, "The Shiv Sena is a part of Maha Vikas Aghadi, but it has not discussed its decision with us. It is unfathomable why the party is supporting Murmu when its government (in Maharashtra) was brought down in a non-democratic way."

Thorat, however, acknowledged that the Sena was a separate political entity with the right to take a stand."But, in this ideological battle, undemocratic ways were used to bring down a functional government and Sena's existence was also threatened," he said.

In an apparent reply to Thackeray's reason for supporting Murmu, Thorat said, "The election for the President's post is an ideological battle. 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 Sinha."

Thorat said the "real causes behind it (supporting Murmu) may be known to its (Sena) leadership only".

The Sena, Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party are constituents of the MVA dispensation in Maharashtra. The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government collapsed on June 29 following the rebellion by Sena's Eknath Shinde and most of the MLAs.