Sena MP urges Uddhav to back Murmu for Prez
July 05, 2022 21:45
Shiv Sena Lok Sabha member Rahul Shewale on Tuesday urged party chief Uddhav Thackeray to direct his MPs to extend support to ruling National Democratic Alliance's nominee for presidential polls Droupadi Murmu considering her tribal roots and contribution to the social sector.
In a letter to Thackeray, the Lok Sabha MP from the Mumbai South Central constituency said prior to entering politics, Murmu was a teacher and later became a minister in the Odisha government and also served as the Governor of Jharkhand.
In view of her (tribal) background and contribution to the social sector, I urge you to declare support to Murmu and accordingly give all Sena MPs the directions to do so, Shewale said.
Shewale pointed out that Sena founder late Bal Thackeray did not back the BJP-headed NDA candidate in the 2007 presidential polls and instead supported Congress-led United Progressive Alliance's nominee Pratibha Patil, a native of Maharashtra, for the top constitutional post.
Similarly, the Sena backed UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee in 2012 though it was not a part of the Congress-led alliance which was then in power at the Centre, he said.
His demand assumes significance considering that the Shiv Sena walked out of the BJP-led NDA in 2019 and the Uddhav Thackeray-led camp is locked in a bitter war of words with the national party after the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra last week.
The Shiv Sena has 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha and three in the Rajya Sabha.
Extending supporting to Murmu, Deepak Kesarkar, a spokesperson of rebel Shiv Sena MLAs led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said the MLAs and MPs of the state should be united in backing the NDA nominee.
Kesarkar said this is for the first time that a person from an adivasi community and that too a woman is set to be elected to the top post, given the numbers in the electoral college in her favour. Polls to elect India's new President -- the first citizen of the country and the supreme commander of the armed forces -- will take place on July 18.
NDA nominee Murmu is contesting against Yashwant Sinha, a former Union minister who is the joint candidate of major Opposition parties, including the Congress.
If elected, Murmu will be India's first woman tribal President.
The President is chosen by the members of the electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament, and elected members of the legislative assemblies of all states, including the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. -- PTI
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