Shiv Sena chooses Pratibha Patil

New Delhi/ Mumbai: The Shiv Sena, an important member of the Opposition NDA, will support UPA candidate Pratibha Patil in the Presidential election.

Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Monday asked party leaders to vote for Patil, who is from Jalgaon in Maharashtra. The party’s decision is a blow to Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is an Independent candidate in the election but is backed by the NDA.

“We took this decision because Shekhawat stood as an Independent candidate only so that he could get votes from other parties which he would not have got as a BJP candidate. We do not agree with this kind of "saudebaazi” (bargaining)," Thackeray said.

“The country has not had a Marathi President since independence. Now an opportunity has been presented to make a Marathi woman a President. That too at a time when the state would be celebrating its golden jubilee in 2010," said Thackeray.

"It is Maharashtra's fortune that a Marathi woman is for the first time becoming the President. Those opposing it should be termed as wretched," said Thackeray, whose party has a vote value of 21,590 in an electoral college of 10.98 lakh.

Sources tell CNN-IBN BJP leaders are unhappy with Thackeray’s decision though the Sena has told them the parties’ relationship won’t be affected.

Sena's backing is crucial for Shekhawat to have at least a narrow chance of winning the election. Trinamool chief and NDA leader Mamata Banerjee has not confirmed support for Shekhawat and still wants President A P J Kalam to be given a second term.

''This is what the people of India want. The President should not be a rubber stamp or a political figure. If Kalam is given a second term, the country will send a powerful message to the whole world as this is the age of science and technology and Kalam alone fits the bill,'' Banerjee said in Kolkata.

The BJP said the Shiv Sena's decision won't affect Shekhawat's chances. "This will have no impact on Shekhawat's poll

prospects. He will emerge as the winner," BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told PTI.

He also denied suggestions that the Shiv Sena's stand would affect the party's ties with the BJP. "Certainly not. Our ties with the Shiv Sena will always remain healthy," he remarked.

Shekhawat, who filed his nomination papers on Monday, is depending on his “friends” in all parties to vote for him but his fate seems sealed.

Asked about Shekhawat’s chances, NDA chief and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee said: "We have just jumped into the fray."