Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday indicated that Shiv Sena may support Murmu. An official announcement from Shiv Sena on Murmu’s support is expected by Tuesday evening or Wednesday.
Raut said that if Shiv Sena decides to support Murmu, it does not mean that Shiv Sena is supporting BJP. Raut said that in the past too, the Shiv Sena had supported UPA presidential candidates like Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee, although the Sena was with the NDA at that time.
“Even when Balasaheb was the Shiv Sena chief, the leaders used to meet on such issues. Decisions were taken based on the views of colleagues. In the current situation, Uddhav Thackeray discussed the presidential election during a meeting with the MPs on Monday. The candidature of Draupadi Murmu was also discussed. The decision to support Draupadi Murmu does not mean that we are supporting the BJP. We also have good relations with Yashwant Sinha. In such cases, decisions have to be taken on the basis of public sentiment. We had earlier supported Pratibha Tai Patil, Shiv Sena did not support NDA candidate. We also supported Pranab Mukherjee,” Raut said.
“The party chief will clarify his stand either today or tomorrow. The party leadership does not take decisions under any pressure. We all asked him to decide. Their decision will be binding on the MLAs and MPs,” Raut said.
On Monday, 12 of the 19 Shiv Sena MPs attended a meeting called by Thackeray to discuss Shiv Sena’s stand on voting for the presidential election on July 18. Shiv Sena claimed that barring two, all the MPs were with Uddhav and urged him to support the BJP. Murmu for the presidency. However, Uddhav did not take any decision and the Shiv Sena MP said that a decision will be taken in a day or two.
According to a Shiv Sena functionary, a delegation of Shiv Sena MPs is likely to meet Murmu ahead of his visit to Mumbai later this week. After the meeting, Uddhav may announce support for Murmu and Murmu may meet him. However, Shiv Sena is hoping that Murmu will meet Uddhav first and seek Shiv Sena’s official support.