Shiv Sena expects Murmu to uphold constitutional values, says Sanjay Raut

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Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday congratulated Droupadi Murmu on her election as the President of India, and said his party expects her to uphold the constitutional values.

“We welcome her victory and are happy that a tribal woman has assumed the top post. We supported her candidature. We expect her to uphold and protect the constitutional values,” Raut, who is the party’s chief spokesman, told PTI.

Murmu, the candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), scripted history on Thursday by becoming India’s first tribal president in the one-sided contest, defeating Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.

Murmu, 64, won by an overwhelming margin against Sinha after receiving over 64 per cent valid votes in a day-long counting of ballots of MPs and MLAs, comprising the electoral college, to succeed Ram Nath Kovind to become the country’s 15th president.

In the run-up to the election for the top post held on July 18, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had announced his support for Murmu, days after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by him in the state collapsed. The Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress were constituents of the MVA dispensation.

The Sena had parted ways with the BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls following differences over sharing the chief minister’s post, and later joined hands with the NCP and Congress.