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Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said that his faction of Shiv Sena will fully support NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.
"We will fully support Droupadi Murmu for the Presidential elections. All our MLAs will vote for her under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi," said Shinde. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has also decided to support Droupadi Murmu, the BJP-led NDA's candidate, in the Presidential polls on July 18. "We decided to extend our support to Droupadi Murmu for her presidency, considering that a tribal woman is getting an opportunity to become the President. Yes, I know politics will start after this but there is no politics in it. We had supported Pratibha Patil for the presidency in the past as well," said Uddhav Thackeray today. Earlier on Monday, 16 of the 18 Shiv Sena MPs from Maharashtra had urged Uddhav Thackeray to support NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu in the Presidential election. In a meeting called by Mr Thackeray in Mumbai yesterday, 16 MPs said the party must extend its support to the NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. While Droupadi Murmu is the presidential candidate of the BJP-led NDA, Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the opposition parties. The Shiv Sena had seen a revolt last month which led to the resignation of Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister of the MVA government which also had Congress and NCP. Eknath Shinde, who led the revolt in Shiv Sena, took oath as Chief Minister on June 30. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took an oath as Deputy Chief Minister. NDA presidential candidate also has the support of the YSRCongress Party, BJD and Akali Dal. She has been touring various states to seek the support of legislators.Droupadi Murmu is a former Governor of Jharkhand and a former Odisha minister. If elected, she will be the first tribal President of India and the country's second female President. Droupadi Murmu is the first presidential candidate from Odisha of a major political party or alliance. (ANI)
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