16 of the 18 Lok Sabha MPs of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Monday, 11 July, suggested supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, party leader Gajanan Kiritkar said.
Kiritkar said 13 MPs physically attended the meeting, while three others – Sanjay Jadhav, Sanjay Mandlik, and Hemant Patil – could not make it to the gathering, but affirmed their support to the leadership.
Two Lok Sabha MPs of the Sena, Bhawana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde, who is the son of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, did not attend the meeting, he added.
“Most of the MPs were of the opinion that the party should support Droupadi Murmu,” Kirtikar told news agency PTI.
"She is an NDA candidate but Droupadi Murmu belongs to the tribal community and is a woman. We should give her our support.... Uddhav told us that he will tell us his decision in a day or two," Kirtikar said, according to news agency ANI.
Kirtikar went on to add that the Sena had supported Pratibha Patil, a United Progressive Alliance candidate, as she is a Marathi woman and Pranab Mukherjee, also a UPA candidate.
"We should see beyond politics for the presidential election," Kirtikar further said, reported ANI.
Besides 18 Lok Sabha members in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena also has its MP, Kalaben Delkar, in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
The presidential elections will be held on 18 July.
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