Presidential Election 2022: 16 Shiv Sena MPs urge Uddhav to support Draupadi Murmu

New Delhi, July 11: Sixteen MPs of Shiv Sena on Monday urged party chief Uddhav Thackeray to support to NDA's candidate Draupadi Murmu in the Presidential polls next week.

Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar said that all 16 MPs were of the opinion that Draupadi Murmu, a tribal woman must be given a chance to occupy the top constitutional post in the country.

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.

"She is an NDA candidate but Droupadi Murmu belongs to the tribal community and is a woman. We should give her our support - this was the demand by all MPs (of the party). Uddhav ji told us that he will tell us his decision in a day or two," said Gajanan Kirtikar after the meet.

"We had supported Pratibha Patil, a UPA candidate, as she's a Marathi woman. We had supported Pranab Mukherjee, a UPA candidate. Uddhav ji will announce support to her(Droupadi Murmu)as she's a tribal woman. We should see beyond politics for Presidential election," he added.

"Out of 18 MPs, two were absent - Bhavana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde. All other MPs of the party were present in the meeting," he said.

Notably, there is no whip or Presidential elections and the MPs can vote according to their will.

A unified opposition have chosen former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha as the candidate for the next president of India. The BJP led NDA on the other hand chose a former Jharkhand governor, tribal leader from Odisha, Draupadi Murmu as the next presidential candidate.

Murmu (64), a former Jharkhand governor, will be the first tribal woman to occupy the top constitutional post if she is elected, a strong possibility as numbers are stacked in favour of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). With her nomination, the BJP is sending out a significant political message after elevating a Dalit, Ram Nath Kovind, to the top post five years back.

The Presidential election will be held on July 18. Elected MPs and MLAs constitute the electoral college. Nominated MPs and MLAs and members of legislative councils cannot vote in the presidential election.