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BIG STORY JULY 22, 2022 | The Indian Eye 5

Tribal artists dance during the arrival of NDA Presidential candidate Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde addresses at the welcoming ceremony of Na-
Droupadi Murmu in Bhopal on Friday (ANI) tional Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) Presidential candidate in Mumbai on Thursday (ANI)

dav held a meeting on July 7 but did election to be held on July 18,” the didate but Droupadi Murmu belongs Eknath Shinde, who led the revolt in
not call me. Other allies including party said. to the tribal community and is a Shiv Sena, took oath as Chief Min-
Jayant Chaudhary were called to the Murmu spoke to JMM chief Shi- woman. We should give her our sup- ister on June 30. BJP leader Deven-
meeting except us. We are still with bu Soren and thanked him for sup- port - this was the demand by all MPs dra Fadnavis took an oath as Deputy
the alliance. Rest will be decided in porting her. JMM is the lead partner (of the party). Uddhav ji told us that Chief Minister.
the future,” he said. of the ruling alliance in Jharkhand he will tell us his decision in a day or But after the Shiv Sena chief Ud-
Recently, Samajwadi Party chief which also includes Congress and two,” Kirtikar said. dhav Thackeray called a meeting in
Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle Shivpal Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). “We had supported Pratibha Mumbai on July 11 for presidential
Singh Yadav extended support to the Earlier, in a major development, Patil, a UPA candidate, as she’s a elections, party leader Sanjay Raut
NDA-backed presidential candidate Shiv Sena MPs, who had attended a Marathi woman. We had supported on Tuesday confirmed that there
Murmu. meeting called by party chief Uddhav Pranab Mukherjee, a UPA candi- were discussions about NDA’s pres-
Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Thackeray in Mumbai on presiden- date. Uddhavji will announce sup- idential candidate Droupadi Murmu
(Lohiya) chief Shivpal Singh Yadav, tial elections, have demanded that port to her (Droupadi Murmu) as at the meeting and said that support-
who had patched up with his nephew the party should support National she’s a tribal woman. We should see ing Murmu does not mean support-
ahead of the Assembly polls alleged Democratic Alliance’s presidential beyond politics for the Presidential ing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
that the SP was weakening and sev- candidate Droupadi Murmu. election,” he added. “We discussed Droupadi Mur-
eral of its leaders were quitting due Party MP Gajanan Kirtikar said The Shiv Sena had seen a revolt mu (NDA’s Presidential candidate)
to the “political immaturity” of Akh- 16 of 18 party MPs were present in last month which led to the resigna- in our meeting yesterday. Support-
ilesh Yadav. the meeting and added that Uddhav tion of Uddhav Thackeray as chief ing Droupadi Murmu does not mean
Shivpal’s remarks came a day af- Thackeray will convey his decision in minister of the MVA government supporting BJP. Shiv Sena’s role will
ter, he attended a dinner party host- a day or two. “She is an NDA can- which also had Congress and NCP. be clear in a day or two; party chief
ed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will make a deci-
Yogi Adityanath for Murmu at his of- sion,” Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.
ficial residence in Lucknow. The din- He also highlighted that the party
ner was attended by opposition party had goodwill toward the opposition’s
leaders Jansatta Dal leader Raghuraj Presidential candidate Yashwant
Pratap Singh alias ‘Raja Bhaiya’, BSP Sinha.
leader Uma Shankar Singh and the “The opposition should remain
SBSP chief among others. alive. We also have goodwill towards
Earlier, Jharkhand Mukti Mor- the Opposition’s Presidential can-
cha (JMM) on Thursday officially didate Yashwant Sinha. Earlier we
announced its support to National supported Pratibha Patil and not the
Democratic Alliance (NDA) can- NDA candidate. We supported Pra-
didate Droupadi Murmu in the up- nab Mukherjee also. Shiv Sena does
coming presidential election. not take decisions under pressure,”
“Post-Independence, it is the he added.
first time that a tribal woman would With Droupadi Murmu all set to
get the opportunity to become the become the country’s next president,
President. So, after all discussions, the BJP has achieved two objectives:
the party has decided to vote in fa- winning over the country’s tribals by
vour of Droupadi Murmu in the putting one of the them in the presi-
presidential election,” said the JMM dential palace and breaking the Op-
statement. “All the MPs and MLAs SBSP President Om Prakash Rajbhar speaks to the media confirming his support to position unity.
are directed to cast votes in favour of Droupadi Murmu in Lucknow on Friday (ANI) This will have long-term implica-
Droupadi Murmu in the presidential tions for Indian politics.

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