New Delhi: Sixteen MPs of Shiv Sena, who attended a meeting called by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai today, asked that the party support NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar told NDTV after the meeting that all 16 MPs agreed that Draupadi Murmu "is a tribal woman and that's why they should vote for her". Maharashtra has a chunk of tribal population.
There is no whip or Presidential elections and the MPs can vote according to their will.
So the suggestion by the MPs -- all Uddhav Thackeray loyalists -- could be the precursor to a possible change in the stance of the party, which has so far supported the joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. Mr Thackeray is expected to take a decision on the matter within a couple of days.
Mr Thackeray, whose government crashed last month after the rebellion by Eknath Shinde, the current Chief Minister, is trying hard to maintain control of the party founded by his father Balasaheb Thackeray.
Last week, he had appointed a new Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha -- a move seen as an effort to insulate the parliamentary party from the rift.
Today's meeting -- called by Mr Thackeray amid the ongoing crisis -- was meant to test the waters. Six of Sena MPs -- including Eknath Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde -- stayed away. The Sena has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha and three in the Rajya Sabha.
The suggestion to back Draupadi Murmu had come up earlier, indicating a rift within the MPs as well. Sena MP Rahul Shewale, an adherent of the Shinde faction, had asked Mr Thackeray to vote for the NDA candidate.
But Mr Thackeray had not voiced a response.
Today, party MP Sanjay Raut, known to be close to Mr Thackeray, left without talking to the media. There is a buzz that Mr Raut is not in favor of supporting Draupadi Murmu and is still ready to back Yashwant Sinha.
In a interview with NDTV last week, Sena's Arvind Sawant, an Uddhav Thackeray loyalist, told NDTV: "We are the Shiv Sena party. We have 19 MPs. Those who want to leave, can resign and leave. And if they want to form like this conspiracy, like the conspiracy that took place in the Assembly, that should be two-thirds – that should not be less than 12 MPs. Are there 13 MPs with them?"
A shift in a few Sena votes may not greatly alter the outcome of the Presidential polls, in which the government appears to have a numerical advantage with the support of Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal and Nitish Kumar's Rashtriya Janata Dal.