Droupadi Murmu Meets MPs and MLAs in Maharashtra, Skips Meeting Uddhav Thackeray
GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 16th July. Droupadi Murmu, the NDA presidential candidate, visited Mumbai on Thursday and met with BJP MLAs and MPs, the Eknath Shinde faction, and other allies. Murmu, on the other hand, did not approach Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, an apparent snub to the leader, who decided to support the NDA presidential candidate on Monday.
Presidential candidates have historically visited Matoshree to meet members of the Thackeray clan and solicit their support for their candidacy. However, due to the fallout between the BJP and Uddhav Thackeray, the practise has been discontinued, despite the fact that Thackeray, under pressure from a section of Shiv Sena MPs, unilaterally declared his support for Murmu, much to the chagrin of parties such as the Congress and the NCP, with whom it was a constituent in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government.
“As far as I know, the visit (to Matoshree) was not scheduled in the Murmu itinerary,” Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said when asked if she would meet Thackeray.
Earlier, the Shiv Sena had supported Congress presidential candidates Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee. Senior Congress leaders had visited Matoshree to express gratitude to Thackeray, and Patil and Mukherjee had also visited Matoshree to meet Thackeray.
However, despite extending their support, neither a BJP leader nor Murmu visited Matoshree until Thursday.
Murmu, who arrived in Mumbai on Thursday, met with BJP and Shinde camp leaders, as well as elected members of the state legislature and members of Parliament. She interacted with the members.
Along with MPs and MLAs, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP president Chandrakant Patil, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Narayan Rane, Ramdas Athavale, Piyush Goyal, Bharati Pawar, BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde, National BJP General Secretary and in charge of Maharashtra C T RAVI and Mumbai BJP chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha were present.
Murmu addressed Maharashtra as “pavitra bhoomi” (sacred land) in Marathi, saying, “This is the state that gave the country a proud leader and thinker like Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.” Maharashtra has made tremendous progress in every sector, including industry, education, agriculture, and commerce. “I am grateful to all of Maharashtra’s MLAs and MPs for their support of my Presidential candidacy.”
The presidential election is scheduled for July 18. While Murmu is the NDA candidate, former BJP minister Yashwant Sinha has been fielded by the opposition parties.
Comments are closed.