13 Sena LS MPs attend meet on Prez polls; most back Murmu

Mumbai/ Patna/ Jalna (Maha): Thirteen of the 18 Lok Sabha MPs of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Monday physically attended a key meeting on the presidential elections and a majority of them suggested supporting the BJP-led NDA's candidate Droupadi Murmu, party leader Gajanan Kiritkar said.

However, party MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut claimed of the 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha, 15 attended the meeting held at 'Matoshree', the private residence of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra. He did not provide details.

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.

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.

Most of the MPs were of the opinion that the party should support Droupadi Murmu, Kirtikar told.

Two Lok Sabha MPs of the Sena - Bhawana Gawali and Shrikant Shinde (son of Chief minister Eknath Shinde) - did not attend the meeting, he added.

Union minister and BJP leader Raosaheb Danve on Monday claimed 12 MPs of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena are in touch with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction and are ready to cross over.

"12 MPs of Shiv Sena are ready to leave the party and are on the verge of joining the Eknath Shinde camp," the Jalna MP said.

Danve also said the Shinde faction is the true Shiv Sena as he has the support of two-thirds of total (55) MLAs.

"I am confident that the Supreme Court and the Election Commission will rule in favour of the Shinde faction," he said when asked about which faction will be allotted the Shiv Sene'a bow and arrow poll symbol.

The RJD-led opposition parties of Bihar, including its estranged ally Congress and the Left on Monday reaffirmed their support for former Union minister Yashwant Sinha for the upcoming presidential polls.

Making an announcement to the effect here, leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, said that things could have been different had the BJP-led NDA come up with the name of former Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu earlier than it did.

"It must be kept in mind that the opposition parties had held deliberations and come to an agreement on Sinha much before the ruling BJP-led coalition revealed its cards," Yadav, an RJD leader, said.

He was talking to reporters after chairing a meeting where delegates of the RJD, CPI-ML, CPI, CPI(M) and the Congress jointly declared support for Sinha for the polls scheduled on July 18.

Last week, the BJP had appealed to Yadav and his allies to support Murmu who would become the first tribal woman President of the country, if elected.

When his attention was drawn to the plea, Yadav said, "Things could have been different had the BJP not waited till the eleventh hour to announce its candidate. We cannot backtrack at this stage".

The RJD, the Left and the Congress together have 115 MLAs in the 243-strong Bihar assembly.

The presidential elections will be held on July 18.