The ongoing rebellion in the Shiv Sena party may come to the fore more openly in the coming Presidential elections. After the MLAs, some Shiv Sena MPs are seen leaving the party line. Whereas Sanjay Raut stood alone in the Shiv Sena MPs meeting, most MPs supported Draupadi Murmur. The presidential election and the NDA alliance of the BJP have made Draupadi Murmu a candidate.
On the other hand, the opposition has brought Yashwant Sinha to the floor. BJP and Shiv Sena’s relationship might not be the same as it was before. Most of the Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MPs want to support BJP’s choice but Sanjay Raut wants to give party support to Yashwant Sinha.
Twelve out of the Shiv Sena’s 19 Lok Sabha MPs were present for a meeting called by party president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday to discuss Sena’s stand for the July 18 presidential poll and urged him to support BJP-led NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu, pushing a demand first articulated by Sena’s south-central Mumbai MP Rahul Shewale last week.
Sena MP from north-west Mumbai Gajanan Kirtikar claimed all MPs except two who have joined chief minister Eknath Shinde’s camp —Bhavana Gawli and the CM’s son Shrikant Shinde— were present at the meeting held at Matoshree and are with Uddhav Thackeray. It is learned that the MPs hinted to ex-CM Thackeray that once Sena formally backs Murmu, some doors may reopen for a patch-up with the Shinde camp and BJP.
