Uddhav breaks ranks with allies to pledge Shiv Sena support to NDA’s Murmu

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Two WEEKS after the MVA government led by him was pulled down by the BJP and Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena chief and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday that his party would support the NDA’s presidential candidate, Droupadi Murmu.
Thackeray’s announcement came a day after his meeting with party MPs, where several MPs “requested” him to support Murmu and open the door to a possible reconciliation with the BJP and the breakaway Shinde faction.
The Opposition, including the Congress and NCP — the Sena’s MVA allies — has fielded Yashwant Sinha for the July 18 presidential polls.
“Nobody pressured me in the meeting of Sena MPs… I am again saying there is no pressure on me to back Droupadi Murmu,” Thackeray said at a press conference. “In fact, going by the present political atmosphere, I should not have backed her as she is the BJP’s candidate. But the Shiv Sena is not narrow-minded,” he said.
“Many tribal party leaders and other party workers met me and told me this is the first time that a tribal woman is getting an opportunity to become the President… Hence, if we (Shiv Sena) support her, then all of them will be happy. Respecting their request and love, I am announcing that we are giving our support to Murmu,” Thackeray said.
He recalled that the Sena had backed UPA nominees Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential polls earlier, although the Sena was then a constituent of the BJP-led NDA. “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 members in Lok Sabha, including 18 from Maharashtra, and three members in Rajya Sabha. In Maharashtra, Thackeray is left with 15 MLAs, after 40 legislators sided with the Shinde faction.
According to party sources, at least eight of the 13 MPs from Maharashtra who attended the meeting on Monday were in favour of supporting Murmu’s candidature and a possible “patch-up” with the BJP and the Shinde faction, “considering the upcoming elections (for local bodies) and the party’s future”.
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