Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that his party will support BJP-led NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu for presidential elections.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that all MLAs of his faction will support Murmu and vote for her under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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The election for the top constitutional post is all set to be held on July 18.

The former Maharashtra CM extended support to Murmu a day after most of the Sena MPs urged him to support her as she belongs to a “tribal community”.

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Murmu, a tribal BJP leader from Odisha, will be the first person from Odisha and the first tribal woman to occupy the top constitutional post, if she wins the poll.

On Monday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that supporting Murmu does not mean supporting its ally-turned-rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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Thackeray had earlier called for a meeting of the party’s MPs to discuss the presidential polls. During the meeting, the MPs requested the Sena chief to back Murmu.

“She is an NDA candidate but Droupadi Murmu belongs to the tribal community and is a woman. We should give her our support – this was the demand by all MPs (of the party). Uddhav ji told us that he will tell us his decision in a day or two,” Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar said after the meeting.

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“We had supported Pratibha Patil, a UPA candidate, as she is a Marathi woman. We had supported Pranab Mukherjee, a UPA candidate. Uddhavji will announce support to her (Droupadi Murmu) as she is a tribal woman. We should see beyond politics for the Presidential election,” he added.