Shiv Sena MPs demand support for Droupadi Murmu

Sixteen MPs of Shiv Sena, who attended a meeting called by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Monday, asked that the party support NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.  Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will take a decision in this regard in the next two days, said MP Gajanan Kirtikar, who was present at the meeting. All 16 MPs a 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. Mondays meeting -- called by 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.It is  sa id that Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut strongly supported Yashwant Sinha during the meeting. Therefore, the contradiction between Sanjay Raut and other MPs was imminent. After the meeting, Sanjay Raut left Matoshree without speaking to the media. Lok Sabha MPs Gajanan Kirtikar, Arvind Sawant, Vinayak Raut, Hemant Godse, Dhairyasheel Mane, Rahul Shewale, Prataprao Jadhav, Shrirang Barne, Sadashiv Lokhande, Omraje Nimbalkar, Rajendra Gavit and Ranjan Vichare were present in the meeting. Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Raut and Priyanka Chaturvedi were also present. In the past, Sena has also supported opposition candidates like Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee. Party chief will give his decision in the next few days.